Reds at Dodgers, Game 2 - Preview and Lineups

If you managed to stay up into the wee hours of this morning watching the Cincinnati Reds take on the Los Angeles Dodgers, you then sent yourself to bed with a swift shin-kick, what with Joc Pederson’s walk-off dinger sinking the Reds and Raisel Iglesias in the series opener. It was a frustrating end to what could have been a spring-board victory, as they were on the cusp of knocking off the Dodgers in a Clayton Kershaw start in a mini-reunion in front of over 50,000 fans.

Alas, it was not to be, and we’re once again left wondering both why it’s so hard to win close games and why Iglesias looks completely lost. Now that I type those two things together, maybe it’s a bit easier to understand why the Reds are just 1-5 in 1-run games and 2-8 in games decided by fewer than 2 runs.

Of course, that they’ve only allowed 14 runs in their 5 away games and have still managed to go winless in all 5 suggests it’s not just the bullpen at fault. Perhaps that’s somewhat behind David Bell’s willingness to tinker with the lineup, which he as done in a major way for the second consecutive night - this time featuring Leadoff Hitter Joey Votto [TM] for the first time since 2008.

Tyler Mahle will get the start for the Reds, and he’ll be countered by Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda.

First pitch is again set for 10:10 PM ET, so get your coffee ready. Pour some whiskey in that coffee too while you’re at it...these are the baseballing Reds we’re talking about.

Reds Lineup

Dodgers Lineup