Reds vs. Pirates, Game Three: Last Game Preview of the Year

This is it.

Let’s get the Reds stuff out of the way here first: Sal Romano is returning to the rotation to make the last start of the season. This will be his first start since all the way back on August 21st after previously starting every fifth day since the beginning of the season. Since, he’s made 12 relief appearances. The results have been marginally better, with a 4.50 ERA vs. a 5.46 ERA in starts. Personally, I believe he looks better as a reliever, and the stuff seems to play up a little better. But, neither of those numbers are all that encouraging.

Clay Holmes will start for the Pirates. Never once in my live have I heard of this person, so here’s his Baseball Reference page.

He’s made exactly one appearance that’s lasted more than 2.2 innings, and that 6 inning outing against the Brewers actually went really well! It’s not gone well since, as he owns a 7+ ERA on the season. I guess the Pirates could opt for a bullpen game today.

But there’s a lot of shit going on today, and the best news is that it’s all free! So, if you’re stuck in Cincinnati and think you have to take in only this Reds game to get your fix in the regular season, you do not! The final weekend of the season is free if you head on over to MLB.TV.

Another cool thing is that all of these games are pretty much starting at 3:00 PM, so the teams with things to play for can’t sit around all day, watch them back in with another team’s loss, and then rest everyone.

So, basically, if you want to take in the NL Central or West races, you can fire up MLB.tv and go channel surfacing. With everything at stake today, this may be the most entertaining day of the regular season.

CIN Lineup

PIT Lineup