Reds vs. Pirates, Game 2 - Preview and Lineups

If the Reds had had, I don’t know, 12 or 13 innings last night, I think they would’ve caught up.

Anyway, it’s a new game and boy, the Reds really need to start winning pretty soon, or things are going to get ugly.

Tonight, the Pirates send to the mound Chad Kuhl. Previously this season, Kuhl and Steven Brault had been piggyback starting, but with their latest pitching injury (Joe Musgrove), the tandem has been broken up, and Kuhl and Brault will be making their own starts (Brault will face the Reds on Saturday).

Kuhl’s been good this season in three appearances (one official start) and nine innings pitched. He sports a tidy 2.00 ERA with 12 strikeouts to three walks. He’s got a 1.000 WHIP, and a pretty damn good 2.86 FIP to go with it. But, this is the first time in 2020 he’ll have a total start to make his own, so we’ll see how it plays out over an extended outing.

Kuhl has been solid if not spectacular in the past. He was nearly exactly league average back in 2017 before his 2018 season was cut short by Tommy John surgery. He missed all of 2019.

The Reds are in need of a solid start from their rotation, and presumably, they’re sending the right guy to the mound for it. Sonny Gray will take the hill for the Reds. He really had to grind out his last start against Milwaukee, but otherwise has looked fairly dominant this season. Hopefully, we’ll get more of that.

You’ll note in the lineup the absence of Eugenio Suarez. I assume it’s just an off day, and probably a much needed one considering how he’s swung the bat so far this season.

Reds lineup

Pirates lineup