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The Cincinnati Reds have started the season on the proverbial roller coaster ride.

The Reds suffered through a four-game losing streak early, but balanced that with a four-game winning streak a week later. Since then, they have sprinkled individual wins between a pair of two-game losing streaks.

They will try to claim their first winning streak in 10 days when they open a three-game series Friday night in Denver against the struggling Colorado Rockies.

Andrew Abbott (2-0, 1.64 ERA) will start for Cincinnati against Colorado’s Kyle Freeland (0-4, 4.85) in a matchup of lefties.

Abbott, who made his major league debut in 2023, is developing into a solid rotation piece. He started the season on the injured list with a left rotator cuff strain, but has pitched well in his two outings. In his last start, Abbott allowed one run on two hits over six innings April 18 at Baltimore. He fanned 11.

It was Abbott’s fourth career game with at least 10 strikeouts. He credits his most recent double-digit total to the development of his changeup.

“It (has) come a long way,” Abbott said. “I talked with (fellow Reds starter) Nick Martinez and a bunch of the guys about how to throw it, grips and all of that stuff. It’s finally coming around. It’s not to where I think it can be yet, but it’s gotten a lot more consistent.

“My main job is to focus and throw strikes. Once you throw a couple in the zone, they have to respect it, and you can get swings on pitches out of the strike zone.”

In three career starts against the Rockies, he is 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA. In his only start at Coors Field, he gave up three runs on seven hits in getting the win on June 3, 2024. He struck out six.

Abbott faces a struggling Colorado team that was swept in three games in Kansas City this week to tie a franchise record of 13 straight road losses.

The Rockies’ 4-20 overall record is the worst in the majors, but that’s a bit misleading. Before dropping both ends of Thursday’s doubleheader to the Royals, Colorado had gone 1-4 in its previous five games — with all four losses by one run.

“We’ve been in close games,” Rockies outfielder Mickey Moniak said this week. “It obviously sucks to be on the losing end, but these are learning moments. There’s a lot of stuff to learn to make sure that we are on the winning end.”

Colorado is 1-14 on the road, but slightly better at home (3-6). Injuries have played a factor in the poor start — shortstop Ezequiel Tovar is sidelined with a hip injury — but the Rockies haven’t found consistency from their rotation or bullpen.

Freeland, the Rockies’ Opening Day starter, began the season with two strong starts. But in his last three, his ERA has risen from 2.13 to 4.85. He left his last start after two innings with a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand, which has been an issue throughout his career.

Friday night will be Freeland’s ninth time facing the Reds. He is 4-2 with a 5.80 ERA and three of his eight starts have come at home.

–Field Level Media