Remember when you rushed to buy tickets for this weekend's Battle of Ohio? You thought it would be a huge series, right? A battle of first-place teams? Sorry to disappoint you.

        Blame the Reds and Indians.

        The three-game Battle of Ohio that begins tonight at Cinergy Field is indeed a big series, but only because both teams desperately need wins to have any hope of playoff contention this year.

        Both find themselves in second place in their divisions: the Reds nine games behind St.Louis in the National League Central, the Cleveland Indians 10¹/₂ games behind the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central.

        But the Reds should establish a three-game series franchise attendance record this weekend. Saturday's game is sold out; tonight's and Sunday's are close. The soon-to-be-broken record is 152,565 from Sept.6-8, 1974, against Los Angeles.

        The Reds also should set a franchise attendance record for a Saturday afternoon crowd, surpassing the 51,091 they drew Aug. 28, 1976, against Philadelphia.

        “Both of us aren't playing as well as we're capable of,” Reds relief ace Danny Graves said. “They have some injuries. We're not catching any breaks or playing our best either. But to have that many fans want to come out for the series, that's huge for both teams. It shows that the fan support is still there, regardless of how good or bad you're doing.”

        But there's no arguing some of the series' luster has worn off.

        It's a long drop-off from the last Reds-Indians series, June9-11 in Cleveland, when both teams entered in better shape.

        The Reds were coming off a disastrous three-game sweep by the White Sox but had swept the Twins the series before that and were just 1¹/₂ games out of first. They were four games over .500 (31-27, the same record at that point as the year before). The Indians were two games behind Chicago and eight above .500.

        How times changed. The Reds were at a critical point then, losing two of three in Cleveland in what turned out to be a span of 11 losses in 12 games. Their only win, on the series' final day, sent Cleveland into a tailspin.

        The June series is the closest this rivalry has come to a battle of two contenders. For the first three seasons, 1997-99, the Indians were the big-money club that dominated the AL Central, while the Reds were the downsizing also-rans building for the future. Even last year, this was not viewed as a series of teams on equal footing, because the Reds' near-playoff run was such a surprise.

        Now, they are on equal footing — equally shaky footing.

Reds 12, Cardinals 6 Box, runs Junior: 'I did not complain to ESPN' DAUGHERTY: Junior needs to lighten up Battle of Ohio loses some luster Reds-Indians scouting report Crews prepare to remove Cinergy wedge Reds will sell more than ballpark name Bengals buck big-dollar name game Neagle focus of trade rumors Boone awaits MRI results

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