Reds vs. Cardinals, Game Three; Preview and Lineups

The Reds and Cardinals will tune it up one more time in Cincinnati this afternoon. The Reds offense has struggled since coming out of the All Star break, the Reds are slashing .185/.247/.274 in five games. Joey got a day off in there (and has kinda scuffled along, anyway), Scooter was ill for one, Winker is dealing with some soreness, and Scott Schebler is on the DL with his shoulder ailment, so it’s all been rather predictable, I suppose.

Eugenio Suarez has attempted to put the team on his back, swatting late inning dingers in back-to-back games to tie up each game.

Still, the team has a bit of “getting right” to do if they want to finish the season half as strong as they finished the second half. Scott Schebler is hitting the beginning of his rehab assignment today for the Bats against Buffalo. Getting him back and healthy will go a long way.

Sal Romano gets the start for the Reds. He pitched in a relief role against these Cardinals in the last game before the break and, before that, dug himself a 4-0 hole before actually salvaging a pretty damn good and gusty performance against Cleveland, pitching 7.1 without allowing anything else after the first two innings. The Cardinals offense is similarly fairly weak coming into this game (managing only 3 regulation runs in the first two games of this series), so maybe he can do some damage today.

Jack Flaherty gets the start for the Red Birds. He’s good, and has a 3.15 ERA in 80 innings this season. But he’s not making his first Major League start or his Major League debut, so the Reds should manage to at least get a hit before the 7th inning, probably.

Reds Lineup

Birds Lineup