The Cincinnati Reds will go for a win tonight that would guarantee them a series victory over the Dodgers. Last night saw the Reds come back from an 8-3 deficit and beat Los Angeles on a long walk-off single by Matt McLain to grab the first game of the 3-game set at Great American Ball Park. Tonight’s 1st pitch is set for 7:10pm ET. Tonight’s game is MLBtv’s free game of the day if you are out of market.
Starting Lineups
Jake Fraley was in the originally posted lineup, but was scratched and replaced by TJ Hopkins (and the batting order shuffled).
Starting Pitchers
Brandon Williamson
In his last start, Brandon Williamson allowed two earned runs in 6.2 innings against the Brewers while striking out six batters. It was a nice rebound from his previous two starts where he couldn’t get out of the 5th inning and struggled to consistently throw strikes.
Through his four big league starts this season, teams have been hesitant to put left-handed hitters into the lineup against him. He’s given up three singles and a walk in 14 plate appearances against lefties. Righties have found more success against him thanks to plenty of walks and plenty of power when they do find hits – but they haven’t done a lot of finding hits thus far.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 77 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 15 | .212 | .325 | .409 |
| LHH | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .231 | .286 | .231 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-seam | Cutter | Curve | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 91.9 | 87.6 | 73.1 | 81.5 | 83.9 |
| Usage | 27% | 30% | 9% | 18% | 16% |
Noah Syndergaard
One of the better pitchers in baseball from 2015-2019, Noah Syndergaard hasn’t quite been the same since missing the 2020 and almost all of the 2021 seasons. He found some success in 2022, but his strikeout rate plummeted. This season he’s just flat out struggled and has an ERA of 6.54 and has already allowed 10 home runs on the year.
When it comes to lefties and righties, both sides are hitting well. Right-handed hitters have just one walk in 92 plate appearances, but they are making contact often and hitting for average and a little bit of power. Left-handed hitters are making tons of contact, walking more than righties but still not a lot, and they are hitting for plenty of power. Not shown below in his splits is the fact that his road ERA is 9.90 on the year and he has allowed 37 baserunners in just 20.0 innings.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 92 | 27 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 17 | .310 | .348 | .471 |
| LHH | 137 | 37 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 18 | .296 | .336 | .536 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | 2-seam | Cutter | Curve | Change | |
| Velo | 92.7 | 92.4 | 89.7 | 77.8 | 87.4 |
| Usage | 11% | 32% | 20% | 12% | 25% |
When and Where
- Game time: 7:10pm ET
- Where: Great American Ball Park
- Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 74°, sunny, 0% chance of rain
News and Notes
Is Christian Encarnacion-Strand next?
Earlier this afternoon I wrote about Christian Encarnacion-Strand over at RedsMinorLeagues.com after he had yet another huge night at the plate in Triple-A for the Louisville Bats. He fell a triple shy of the cycle, and he also walked for the 11th time in his last 10 games played. He’s hitting .352/.408/.716 through 38 games this year for the Bats and while there are some questions both about his defensive ability and where he will eventually fit into the lineup, one thing is clear: His bat is about as ready as it’s going to get for the big leagues.
Matt McLain is setting records
From today’s game notes:
Matt McLain has 30 hits in his first 20 MLB appearances. That’s the most hits by any Reds player ever in the first 20 games of their debut season (dating back to 1900).
Standings
| Team | W | L | GB | Playoff Odds |
| Brewers | 33 | 28 | 0.0 | 64.5% |
| Pirates | 32 | 28 | 0.5 | 21.2% |
| Reds | 28 | 33 | 5.0 | 2.8% |
| Cubs | 26 | 34 | 6.5 | 11.2% |
| Cardinals | 25 | 37 | 8.5 | 18.3% |
| Playoff Odds via Fangraphs | ||||
