This Tuesday the (48-71) Cincinnati Reds and the (66-55) Philadelphia Phillies will play game two of this four-game series. The first pitch will be thrown out at 7:05 PM EST inside Citizens Bank Park. These two teams also played one another just a week ago, as the Phillies took two of three games in that series.
The Cincinnati Reds are coming into this one after a tough series with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Luckily, the Reds won the final two games of the series, as they were able to get the job done on the road. They will need their bats to stay hot if they want to contend with the Phillies in this one. Cincinnati scored 19 combined runs in the final two games of their last series.
The Philadelphia Phillies are entering this one after a long four-game series with the New York Mets. The Phillies only won one game, as the Mets took three out of four games. Philadelphia's pitching and fielding h ave to be better, as they surrendered 25 combined runs in their three losses.
This game was written/published before last night's results.
The Cincinnati Reds are currently 17.0 games out of the final NL Wild Card spot, as they will need to start stacking some wins if they want to make a push for the postseason. They are also (4-6) in their last 10 games played, as they haven't been hot enough to make a run. Cincinnati is still in fourth place in the NL Central, as they have a 2.5-game lead over the last-place Pittsburgh Pirates. At the plate, the Reds are scoring 4.38 runs per game and they are hitting .241 as a team. This is the 17th most runs scored per game and the 17th lowest overall team batting average. They have struggled to consistently reach base safely, as they aren't giving themselves enough opportunities to drive in men when they are in scoring position. The Reds have also shown that they don't have a ton of home run power littered throughout their batting lineup. They are only hitting .97 bombs per game, which is the 19th lowest average in the MLB. Th ey have to string together multiple base hits if they want to light up the scoreboard. I also expect the Reds to stay conservative once they have reached base safely. They have only taken 48 bases this season, which is the 22nd least in the MLB. They can't risk losing any base runners, as they have been rare for the Reds this regular season.
According to MLB.com, Nick Lodolo will be starting on the mound. He has been decent this season, as he is (3-4) with a 4.12 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP. He has allowed his opponents to consistently reach base safely, as he has continued to put himself in jams. He did look awesome in his last start, though. He completely shut down the Phillies, as he pitched for 7.0 innings and only allowed five hits and zero earned runs. He made it very difficult to score, as the Phillies couldn't load the bases against him. Unfortunately, the Reds bullpen has had real issues this season. If Lodolo can't pitch deep into the game, then they will be forced to turn to their bullpen. The Cincinnati bullpen has had issues all season, as they are allowing the most runs per game. They have continued to give up runs late in the game, as their opponents are never out of it against the Reds.