Pittsburgh @ Cincinnati preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 7, 2015 ) Pittsburgh 1, Cincinnati 3

The Pittsburgh Pirates were riding high after a series win over the first-place St. Louis Cardinals and can’t afford to drop a series against one of the worst teams in the majors. The Pirates will try to bounce back and even the series at one win apiece when they visit the Cincinnati Reds for the second of a three-game series on Tuesday.

The Pirates stayed up late on Sunday to finish off a series win at St. Louis and looked like a team that didn’t get a lot of sleep in a 3-1 loss to the Reds on Monday. Pittsburgh (81-55) is still a long shot to overtake the Cardinals (87-50) and is more concerned with holding off the Chicago Cubs (79-57) for the top National League wild-card spot at this point. Cincinnati is trying to put together its first three-game winning streak since July 28-30 following a stretch of 17 losses in 21 games bridging August and September. The Reds, who will play a big role in the NL postseason picture with remaining series against St. Louis (two), San Francisco, Washington, the Cubs, the New York Mets and a regular-season closing three-game set at Pittsburgh, send rookie Raisel Iglesias to the mound on Tuesday opposite Francisco Liriano.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, ROOT (Pittsburgh), FSN Ohio (Cincinnati)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates LH Francisco Liriano (9-7, 3.40 ERA) vs. Reds RH Raisel Iglesias (3-6, 3.81)

Liriano suffered his first loss since June 20 when he surrendered four runs on seven hits and five walks over five innings at Milwaukee on Thursday. The Dominican Republic native has completed seven innings once in his last 10 starts. Liriano is facing Cincinnati for the first time since his season debut on Apr. 6, when he allowed two runs and two hits in seven innings without factoring in the decision.

Iglesias is winless in his last four starts despite going seven innings and allowing three or fewer earned runs in each of those outings. The 25-year-old Cuban notched double-digit strikeouts in three straight turns and has 97 k’s in 87 1/3 total innings. Iglesias fanned five in 6 2/3 innings while allowing two runs and four hits to earn a win over Pittsburgh on Aug. 1.

WALK-OFFS

1. Pirates UTL Sean Rodriguez made his first start of the season at SS on Monday and committed a pair of errors.

2. Cincinnati 1B Joey Votto has hit safely in 10 straight games and reached base in 26 in a row.

3. Pittsburgh 1B/LF Travis Ishikawa (back) was activated from the 15-day disabled list on Monday.

PREDICTION: Pirates 3, Reds 2