The Cincinnati Reds will once again try to outscore their opponents today

The Cincinnati Reds shared the field with the Atlanta Braves last night, and that’s all I have to say about that.

The Cincinnati Reds will share the field with the Atlanta Braves again today, and I sure hope they provide us with more enjoyable baseball this time.

Last night’s debacle now in the past, it’ll be Tyler Mahle’s chance to curve the Reds ship back on whatever the hell course on which it’s been set. The rock-solid righty has been nails of late, pitching to a 2.45 ERA and 2.83 FIP over his last 6 starts, with an impressive 47/9 K/BB in 40.1 IP in that stretch. That even includes him scattering 12 hits against the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers a few starts back.

The Reds will need that kind of effort from Mahle if they’re going to have any chance on Saturday, as they’ll be up against electric rookie Spencer Strider. The mustachioed Columbus native pumps gas up to the triple digits and has pitched to a remarkable 3.02 ERA and 2.19 FIP in 53.2 total IP this year. Some of that came as a reliever early on, but he’s been pretty damn reliable in 6 starts since moving to the rotation, too - 3.68 ERA, 2.82 FIP in 29.1 IP in that role since May 30th.

It looks like Mike Moustakas is going to play today. That’s something that I guess is going to just continue to happen. He’s hit .214/.300/.349 in an even 400 PA since the start of last season, and his 75 wRC+ in that time is the exact same as the likes of Paul DeJong (jettisoned to AAA long ago) and Josh VanMeter (DFA’d in that time and spent time in AAA for two different franchises). Only 19 players of the 287 who’ve logged at least 400 PA since the start of last year have worse offensive performance than that.

First pitch is set for 4:10 PM ET. Turn on, tune in, and drop any fly ball on the infield if there’s a runner on 1B and less than 2-outs so you can avoid the infield fly call and turn two.

Reds Lineup

Braves Lineup