The strength of the Reds all year has been the starting rotation. Those starters will get a severe test in the first round of the playoffs.
The Reds' seed for the postseason was set at seventh Sunday by virtue of the St. Louis Cardinals' 5-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. So the Reds will go to Atlanta to face the second-seeded Braves in a three-game Wild Card series, beginning Wednesday.
The Braves can hit. They led Major League Baseball in runs scored, slugging (.485) and on-base percentage (.350) and were second in batting average (.269) entering Sunday.