Cincinnati Reds at Pittsburgh Pirates Preview

The Cincinnati Reds are in Pittsburgh this week, and that presents a great chance to pick up some wins. The Reds won the series opener over the Pirates by a score of 14-1 in a game that was decided pretty early. 

With the win on Monday night, the Reds were able to get their record back to the .500 mark at 16-16. Cincinnati remains in third place in the Central Division, and they have gone 4-2 over their last six games.

Pittsburgh has gone just 2-9 in their last 11 games, but that came after a surprising start to the regular season. The Pirates are in last place in the Central with a record of 14-20, and that is expected to get worse as the season moves along. 

The Pirates are actually the betting favorites at -115 in game two of the series on Tuesday night. 

Reds Continue to Hit Well

The Reds just continue to be one of the best offenses in baseball, and they put on a show at the plate on Monday night. Cincinnati has scored 171 runs this season, and they are second in MLB with a slugging percentage of .433.

Tyler Naquin had a home run and drove in four runs on Monday night to increase his team-leading total to 24 RBIs. Nick Castellanos has blasted nine home runs this season, and the Reds offense just continues to produce at the plate.

Jeff Hoffman will be on the mound for the Reds on Tuesday night, and he has gone 2-2 with a 4.39 ERA to begin the year. The Reds continue to look for more pitching, and that will be the key as the season moves along. 

Pirates Don’t Pose Offensive Threat

JT Brubaker will start for the Pirates on Tuesday night, and he has been the ace of the staff up to this point. Brubaker has gone 2-2 with an ERA of 2.78 to begin the year, and he will present the Reds with a difficult challenge in game two of the series.

The Pirates have scored just 117 total runs this year, and they have been even worse at the plate during this recent skid. Adam Frazier leads the team with a .308 batting average, but there is not much depth in the Pittsburgh lineup. 

Another Great Chance For Reds

This has been an interesting season for the Reds, but they have been really good at times. The offense was impressive on Monday night, and the big bats just continue to produce.

Pittsburgh can’t keep up with the Reds in a high-scoring affair, but the Pirates have been able to shut down some opposing lineups in recent games. The Pirates are always a tougher team at home, even though that wasn’t the case on Monday. 

If the Reds are going to make a serious run at winning the NL Central title this season, then they are going to have to win these games against the Pirates. Facing the ace of the Pirates staff will make things difficult, but the Reds have proven that they can score runs against anyone.