THE BROO VIEW with Ken Broo

Far be it from me to raise a red flag, but is anyone else noticing that the Reds have this tendency to score runs in bunches, two big innings or so, and then go into a shell? We saw it again Wednesday night, when they scored five times in two innings and then had to scramble for a 7-5 win over the Diamondbacks.

You can say it's the sign of a good team that can do damage early and hold the status quo. And I suppose I'd be comfortable with that, if they weren't preparing to play some of the best teams in the National League in a few weeks. But it seems as though opposing pitchers are doing well making adjustments to Reds hitters as they pitch through the batting order for a second time. It appears the Reds hitters aren't doing much adjusting.

I could be wrong. I often am wrong. But I could be right.

This is a much different team, and less lethal, without Scott Rolen healthy and in the line up. We saw it again Thursday afternoon when the Diamondbacks Rodrigo Lopez shut down a batting order that had Jonny Gomes hitting clean up and Brandon Phillips also out of the line up. The goal for Dusty Baker is two fold: he has to get his team healthy for the playoffs, while trying to earn the best record in the National League. No small trick. And earning the best record in the NL, which assures home field advantage in the playoffs, will be a big deal for the Reds. When the top of a team's pitching rotation doesn't feature stud starters, and the Reds don't have those, you want as many home games as you can get, to insure final at bats. Don't get me wrong, Bronson Arroyo, Travis Wood and Johnny Cueto have pieced together very solid seasons. But the Reds don't have a Roy Halladay, Matt Cain or Cole Hamels, who will be very difficult to handle with multiple home starts.

Why do I feel the Bengals will get a heaping dose of TJ Houshmandzadeh Sunday? He's the third wide receiver in the Ravens offensive system. But you and I both know Baltimore head coach, John Harbaugh is cooking up ways for Houshmandzadeh to 'burn' his former team.

What concerns me even more, is the Ravens running attack. It never got off the dime against the Jets on Monday night. But with its three headed attack of Laron McClain, Willis McGahee and Ray Rice, you know that will be the way the Ravens will first try to attack the Bengals defense.

There's good news on the other side of that equation. Last season, the Bengals rushed for 142 yards against the Ravens in Baltimore and 146 when the two teams met later in the year in Cincinnati. This could also be a big day for Cedric Benson.

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