Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh preview
PNC Park
Last Meeting ( Aug 3, 2010 ) Cincinnati 6, Pittsburgh 7
The Cincinnati Reds look to get back on track Wednesday when they face the Pittsburgh Pirates in the rubber game of a three-game series.
The Reds rolled to a 4-0 victory in the opener on Monday before Pittsburgh posted a 7-6 victory on Tuesday. The Pirates scored six runs in the second inning and held on for the win as the Reds rallied and put the tying run on base in the ninth.
Cincinnati enters the series finale a little banged up after placing shortstop Orlando Cabrera on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday with a strain in his left side. Paul Janish took over at short on Tuesday for the Reds, who were already down an infielder.
Slugging first baseman Joey Votto was out of the starting lineup for the second straight game for the Reds as he tries to recover from a sprained right wrist. Votto did pinch hit in the eighth Tuesday, drawing an intentional walk and staying in the game defensively in the ninth.
Votto is day-to-day and the Reds hope he is back sooner rather than later as they try and put some distance between themselves and the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central Division. The Reds lead by a half-game over the Cardinals, who were pounded by the Houston Astros 18-4 on Tuesday.
Johnny Cueto (10-2, 3.32 ERA) gets the start for Reds back today. Cueto has won his last four decisions and looks to maintain his success against the Pirates for his career.
In 11 career starts against Pittsburgh, Cueto is 8-2 with a 3.00 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 66 innings.
Pittsburgh snapped a five-game losing streak with Tuesday's win and turns to Jeff Karstens to try and make it two straight wins.
Karstens (2-6, 4.42 ERA) has not won since June 19 and is 1-5 in his last 10 starts. He is 0-4 since his last win but the Pirates have scored three runs or less in five of Karstens' seven starts since the win.
Some run support would be nice, but Karstens should be wary despite Tuesday's performance. Pittsburgh scored only five runs during its five-game skid and was shut out twice in that span. They really had just one strong inning on Tuesday, the six-run second, and were fortunate enough to tack on one more run that proved to be the difference.