Reds at Nationals, Game Two - Preview and Lineups

It’s high time that Anthony DeSclafani strung together six or seven straight innings of making his opponents look ham-handed. Perhaps facing the Washington Nationals is actually just what he needs, then.

The .687 OPS he’s allowed against the Nats in his career ranks as his fifth best mark against any team he’s faced - and the 2.45 ERA against them sits as the second best he has against any team he’s thrown more than an inning against. Hopefully that’s a good omen for Disco, as the Reds could certainly use a solid start after Tyler Mahle’s abbreviated outing yesterday in the series opener, one that landed him on the bus back to AAA Louisville in exchange for reliever Jesus Reyes earlier Friday.

Of course, it’d be nice if the Cincinnati offense perked up a bit, which is something that’s been easier of late against Nats starter Gio Gonzalez than it was earlier in the season. Gonzalez still owns a tidy 3.78 ERA on the season, but has pitched to just a 5.90 ERA over his previous 8 starts. At first glance, you’d think this would be a good chance to finally, finally get Dilson Herrera some playing time - especially since Scooter Gennett is just 2 for his last 28 against LHP and owns just a .752 OPS overall in his last 43 games - but Jim Riggleman is as committed to not doing anything of the sort as any interim manager I may have ever witnessed.

He did at least move Joey Votto to the #2 spot in the batting order, which is probably long overdue given his power outage this season. So, there’s that.

First pitch is set for 7:05 PM ET.

Cincinnati Lineup

Washington Lineup