Cincinnati @ Milwaukee preview
Miller Park
Last Meeting ( Jul 10, 2013 ) Cincinnati 6, Milwaukee 2
The Cincinnati Reds are still keeping tabs on the National League Central title while they create distance in the race for the second wild card. Winners of four in a row and seven of eight, the streaking Reds look to continue their good fortune on Thursday when they open a four-game set versus the host Milwaukee Brewers. Todd Frazier homered as Cincinnati completed a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs with a 5-0 triumph on Wednesday.
The Reds reside 3 1/2 games behind Pittsburgh in the NL Central and 5 1/2 ahead of Arizona in the wild-card race. Milwaukee returns home after splitting an abbreviated two-game interleague series against Texas to finish a road trip with a 5-4 mark. Juan Francisco, who was signed by Cincinnati in 2004, went deep twice for the second time this season to raise his career-high home run total to 17 in the Brewers' 5-4 loss on Wednesday.
TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, FSOH (Cincinnati), FSWI (Milwaukee)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Reds LH Tony Cingrani (5-2, 2.87 ERA) vs. Brewers RH Kyle Lohse (8-7, 3.26)
Cingrani suffered a hard-luck loss after allowing two runs on as many hits in five innings en route to a 3-1 setback to San Diego on Saturday. The loss was the 24-year-old's first since dropping a heartbreaker to Milwaukee on July 9. Cingrani yielded two runs on three hits and struck out 10 in a 2-0 defeat.
Lohse won his third straight decision after permitting three runs on six hits in seven innings in a 10-5 triumph over Seattle on Friday. The 34-year-old improved to 4-3 versus Cincinnati after allowing three runs in 6 2/3 innings in a 4-3 victory on July 8. Lohse has yielded 20 homers this season, but only one in his last five trips to the mound.
WALK-OFFS
1. Milwaukee SS Jean Segura is riding a 10-game hitting streak, but he went 0-for-2 with a strikeout against Cingrani on July 9.
2. Cincinnati CF Shin-Soo Choo received a day off on Wednesday as he continues to deal with a hand injury.
3. Francisco, who went 2-for-4 on Wednesday, is 11-for-28 with nine RBIs in August.
PREDICTION: Reds 4, Brewers 2