After severe thunderstorms and heavy rains washed out Monday night’s scheduled opener of a three-game series, the Battle for the Ohio Cup picks back up Tuesday in a day-night doubleheader when the Cincinnati Reds host the Cleveland Guardians.
Cleveland captured the final two games of the three-game set between the clubs in Cleveland on May 15-17. Cleveland can re-capture the Ohio Cup with two wins in Cincinnati this week.
The Reds return home feeling good about their recent play after capturing a 5-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in 10 innings on Sunday. The win capped off a strong 6-3 road trip coming out of the All-Star break, giving the club three consecutive road series victories.
In the first game, right-hander Chase Burns (12-1, 2.42 ERA) takes the hill for Cincinnati for the second time since signing a seven-year, $105 million extension and for the second time since skipping the All-Star Game due to a tweaked groin.
Last Tuesday in Seattle, he earned a 4-2 win, laboring a bit while throwing 91 pitches. But still he held the Mariners scoreless over five innings and earned his 11th consecutive winning decision, the longest such streak by a Reds pitcher since Tom Browning and John Franco each won 11 straight in 1985.
Instead of turning to Brady Singer in the night game on regular rest, the Reds will use a reliever as their opener in the nightcap Tuesday.
Cincinnati’s super utilityman Spencer Steer left Sunday’s game in the fifth inning with right wrist pain after taking an awkward swing. X-rays were negative but Reds manager Terry Francona indicated Monday that Steer suffered a tear in the sheath around the wrist.
“He got an injection,” Francona said. “I think they’ll wait a couple weeks … and then either start to get him back to baseball or fix it (and) if you fixed it, it’s season-ending.”
The Cleveland Guardians are looking to turn things around after a tough weekend in Florida. The Guardians were shut out and held to one hit in a 1-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday. The setback completed a three-game Tampa Bay sweep and extended Cleveland’s losing streak to five games.
The Guardians were blanked Saturday and Sunday against Tampa Bay and the road doesn’t get any easier with Burns on the mound to start the doubleheader.
“We faced three very good arms,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “There’s no denying that the Rays have some really good arms, and we saw three of their best. We’ve shown at times that we can be a really good offense. We just need to find some consistency.”
In the day game, Cleveland will counter Burns with right-hander Slade Cecconi (4-7, 4.60 ERA), making his 21st start and his sixth career start against Cincinnati. Cecconi is 0-3 with a 4.05 ERA lifetime against the Reds, allowing 12 runs and 22 hits in 26 2/3 career innings against Cincinnati.
Cleveland is set to start red-hot right-hander Gavin Williams (10-5, 3.78) in the nightcap. Williams will be making his 22nd start this season.
Williams is coming off back-to-back starts in which he struck out 11 batters without a walk. But the Guardians scored just one run in each game and lost both. Williams has struck out 11 in each of his last three starts while walking just one over 20 innings.
He made his first career start against the Reds on May 17, earning the win after six innings of two-run ball.
–Field Level Media
