The two were activated prior to Sunday’s series finale.

The Cincinnati Reds dropped another game last night to the going-nowhere St. Louis Cardinals, further pushing their chances at making the playoffs into the proverbial toilet. They’ve fallen to 2.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot, fallen behind both the San Francisco Giants and Miami Marlins in the chase for said spot (occupied by the Arizona Diamondbacks), and are now just 14-22 since they did nothing of note at the August 1st trade deadline.

They’re turning to their last lightning bolt, however.

Each of Joey Votto, Jonathan India, and Hunter Greene were activated today, the first two coming off the injured list for their shoulder and foot, respectively, while Greene returns to the starting rotation off the COVID list. In it, the Reds get back a trio of former, current, and future stars, the hope being there’s enough left in their tanks to help fuel a last-ditch revival to their once-promising season.

Each is getting a start today as they attempt to take down St. Louis, who has taken each of the first two games in GABP this series.

It goes without saying that this season has perilously approached the brink. Maybe, just maybe, Votto can stir up something special today – it’s his 40th birthday, after all.