The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds meet Sunday in MLB action from Great American Ball Park. This will be the finale in a three-game weekend series. The Pirates took a close win in the Thursday opener, then on Saturday Cincinnati evened it up with a four-run victory. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates scored three runs in the fourth inning on Thursday in the opener of this set, then held on for a tense 5-4 victory. In game two Saturday, Pittsburgh out-hit the Reds 7-6 in a 6-2 defeat. Starter Rich Hill gave up three earned on three hits and two walks in 5.0 innings.
As the starting pitcher for Sunday’s game, the Pirates will send out Vince Velasquez. Over 27 games (nine starts) last year Velasquez put up a 4.78 ERA with a 3-3 record. In 75.1 innings of work Velasquez struck out 69 batters.
Cincinnati Reds
Over on the Cincinnati side, they out-hit the Pirates 8-6 in the Thursday game but couldn’t score after the fifth inning. On Saturday the Reds scored three runs in both the first and sixth innings. Nick Lodolo had 5.0 innings, two earned, seven this and two walks in the start.
Graham Ashcraft will make the start for the Reds on Sunday. In his career over 19 games Ashcraft has put up a 5-6 record with a 4.89 ERA. In 105.0 innings total he has 71 strikeouts and a 1.42 ERA to his credit.
The Pirates are 60-139 in the last 199 road games and 23-54 in their last 77 in game three of a series. The under is 5-1 in Pittsburgh’s last six in game three of a series.
Meanwhile, the Reds are 11-4 in their last 15 Sunday games and 18-38 in their last 56 overall. Cincinnati is 0-6 in the last six in game three of a series.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I might take a stab on the Reds here. Probably staying away, though. Ashcraft had a pretty good spring, posting a 3-1 record over five games. In 17.1 innings total Ashcraft managed 13 hits, five earned, two homers, two walks and 25 strikeouts. If he can keep up that production Cincinnati should be in pretty good shape here. On Saturday Cincinnati was pretty quiet outside of the two big innings, and they were carried by a handful of bats. (Kevin Newman and Jake Fraley combined for five RBI.) Still, if the Reds can keep up the opportunism here I think they’ll be looking good for a series win.