Arizona Diamondbacks at Cincinnati Reds Preview

Arizona is holding a 5-4 lead in the 8th inning of the Tuesday game, but this has been a rough start to the season. The Diamondbacks entered this series with a record of 6-10, putting them in fourth place in the West.

Cincinnati sits atop the Central Division with a record of 9-6, but the Reds have been scuffling a bit of late. The Reds have just three wins in their last eight games and will need to rally to beat the Diamondbacks in the series opener. 

The Cincinnati Reds are -172 in the matchup with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night. 

Pitching a Problem For Diamondbacks

Starting pitching has been a disaster for the Diamondbacks this season, and the bullpen hasn’t been any better. Arizona came into this series with a team ERA of 4.76, and facing the Cincinnati Reds is not going to help that number go down.

Merrill Kelly makes the start for Arizona in game two of the series, and he is 0-2 with a whopping 8.44 ERA so far this season.

The Diamondbacks have been a good offensive team to begin this season, scoring 78 runs on the season. Arizona has some solid veterans in the lineup, and they will be a tough team to deal with. 

Cincinnati Continues to Crush Pitching

The Reds started off this season by putting up big numbers at the plate, and they have not shown any signs of slowing down. Cincinnati is without Mike Moustakas (illness) and Nick Castellanos (suspension) for this game, but the Reds still have a dangerous lineup.

Outfielder Tyler Naquin leads the team with six home runs and 16 RBIs, and he has enjoyed hitting at the Great American Ballpark. The Reds have a .261 team batting average, and they have now scored 99 runs on the year.

Tyler Mahle will make the start for the Reds in game two of the series, and he has been pitching well this season. Mahle comes into this game with a record of 1-1 to go along with a 2.57 earned run average. 

Reds Have Offense to Get it Done

The Cincinnati Reds are dealing with some adversity at this time, but they still have enough thunder in that lineup to do some real damage. Playing at home gives the Reds an extra advantage, but the cold weather has not helped the bats heat up.

Having Tyler Mahle on the mound is another big advantage for the Reds, and he should be able to shut down a surprisingly solid Arizona offense. It’s going to take some runs to win this game, but that’s what the Reds are good at.

It will be interesting to see how finishing the Tuesday night game affects game two of the series, but the Reds have a pretty clear advantage on paper.