The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds meet in an NL Central matchup in MLB action from Great American Ballpark on Monday night.
The Pittsburgh Pirates will look to rebound from a 4-3 loss to the Cardinals in Sunday’s series finale. Ke’Bryan Hayes has 106 hits and 20 doubles with a .242 batting average as well as 36 RBIs. Ben Gamel also has 41 RBIs while Michael Chavis also has 45 RBIs this season. Bryan Reynolds also has a team-high 21 home runs with 51 RBIs of his own and Jack Suwinski also has 16 homers this season. Bryse Wilson will start here and is 2-8 with a 6.11 ERA and 58 strikeouts this season.
The Cincinnati Reds will try to bounce back from a narrow 7-6 loss to the Brewers in Sunday’s series finale. Kyle Farmer leads the Reds with 64 RBIs along with 23 doubles and a .265 batting average while Tyler Stephenson has 53 hits with 35 RBIs as well so far this season. Jonathan India’s also chipping in a .262 batting average for the Reds as well this season. Mike Minor will start here and is 4-10 with a 5.70 ERA and 70 strikeouts this season.
Pittsburgh is 54-131 in their last 185 road games and 33-77 in their last 110 games against a left-handed starter while the over is 9-1-1 in their last 11 games against a team with a losing record. Cincinnati is 4-1 in their last 5 games following a loss and 0-4 in their last 4 Monday games while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 series-opening games.
I get the case to be made for the Pirates here as I have not been a Mike Minor fan whatsoever this season, but as much as I hate to admit it, he’s pitching a lot better in his last few starts and the Reds have been a lot better at the plate the last couple of weeks compared to Pittsburgh. I think this is just a spot where the Reds bats are hotter and they do enough to back up Minor and to get a win here. Give me Cincinnati.