Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh preview
PNC Park
Last Meeting ( May 27, 2010 ) Pittsburgh 2, Cincinnati 8
After getting the best of one of the top teams in the National League, the Cincinnati Reds have to guard against a letdown as they visit the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday for the start of a three-game series.
The Reds went 4-2 on a six-game road trip and then made a brief stop at home to take two of three from the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves.
After visiting Pittsburgh, Cincinnati heads to Chicago for a three-game series with the Cubs before returning home for a pivotal series with the NL Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals.
The Reds dropped the first game of the series against the Braves and then won two straight. They have won four of their last five and are a half-game behind St. Louis, which posted a 9-1 triumph over Pittsburgh on Sunday.
Coming off a big series against a top team, Cincinnati can't afford a letdown against Pittsburgh - a club which was beaten like a drum by St. Louis.
Losers of four straight, the Pirates have the worst record in the National League at 36-68. The Pirates are terrible on the road, but are hovering around respectable at home with a 23-26 mark at PNC Park.
Travis Wood (1-1, 2.87 ERA) gets the start for the Reds and will be making his first career start against the Pirates. Wood earned his first win in the majors on Wednesday with a 10-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in which he yielded two runs and five hits in five innings.
Pittsburgh is 21-31 against the NL Central and was just swept in three games by St. Louis.
The Pirates had all kinds of trouble trying to score against the Cardinals and will be looking for a trip back home to wake up the offense. Pittsburgh lost the opener to St. Louis, 1-0, and then was blasted in the final two games of the series, getting outscored, 20-2.
Ross Ohlendorf is charged with the task of trying to keep the Reds' hitters in check while the offense tries to snap out of its funk.
Ohlendorf (1-8, 4.35 ERA) is 1-5 in his last 10 starts and has not won since June 2 against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Ohlendorf left his last start after he was struck on the right side of the face on a line drive by Troy Tulowitzki of the Colorado Rockies.
In five career games against the Reds, including four starts, Ohlendorf is 1-2 with an ERA of 3.97.