Pirates at Reds, Game One - Preview and Lineups

In a way, you could certainly say that the 2018 Cincinnati Reds season has mirrored that of the 2018 season put in by Anthony DeSclafani. April was non-existent, the middle part of the season was actually rather impressive, and the close to the year has been a steep decline with bits of pretty awful play mixed in.

Disco will bring a 4.91 season ERA into Friday’s contest against the Pittsburgh Pirates in what will be his final start of the season. He’ll also bring a 7.45 ERA over his last 4 starts and 6.56 ERA over his previous 7 starts into Friday, the latter stretch coming immediately on the heels of him having posted a 2.37 ERA in his 6 starts beforehand. In other words, that’s a complicated way of saying his once-promising return from a completely lost 2017 season has turned south in a hurry, and tonight’s his last chance to finish this year with a bang.

The Pirates will send Nick Kingham to the hill as Disco’s counterpart on the evening, and with an 80-78 record entering play today, the Pirates will have the chance to lock up a non-losing season with a victory. Man, even that sounds completely out of this world to the eardrums of a Reds fan.

First pitch is set for 6:40 PM on this, the final Friday of Cincinnati’s season.

Cincinnati Lineup

Pittsburgh Lineup