Right-hander Zack Littell will try to replicate his successful team debut with the Cincinnati Reds when he faces the host Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday afternoon in the finale of a four-game series.
The Reds are aiming to make up ground in the National League wild-card race and earn a series split against their NL Central rivals. Cincinnati beat Pittsburgh 2-1 on Saturday to take the lead in the season series behind a quality start from Nick Martinez.
The Reds have won five of the nine games between the teams this season, and Littell (9-8, 3.46 ERA) will try to keep the momentum going when he opposes Pittsburgh rookie right-hander Mike Burrows (1-4, 4.45).
Burrows will face the Reds for the first time as he tries to shake off one of the worst starts of his career. He gave up six runs on five hits, including three home runs, walked three and struck out three in an 8-1 loss at home to the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday. He pitched just 4 2/3 innings.
The Reds acquired Littell from the Tampa Bay Rays in a trade on July 30 for minor league pitchers Adam Serwinowski and Brian Van Belle.
In his first start for his new team, Littell pitched seven innings and allowed one run on three hits, walked two and struck out eight on 92 pitches to lead Cincinnati to a 5-1 win over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Tuesday.
Littell will face Pittsburgh for the first time this season. He’ll make his first career start against the Pirates, having only made four appearances against them as a reliever, compiling a 6.75 ERA in four innings.
Other than allowing a solo home run to Chicago’s Matt Shaw, Littell kept one of baseball’s toughest lineups in check in his Cincinnati debut and credited the effectiveness of his splitter for the strong start.
Littell became the fifth Reds pitcher in the past 125 years to throw seven-plus innings while allowing one earned run or fewer and striking out at least eight in his debut outing, joining Johnny Cueto, Mo Sanford, Tom Seaver and current teammate Brady Singer.
“This is probably the first time I’ve ever gone to a new team with expectations to perform,” Littell said Tuesday. “It was a little different, but the guys here did an awesome job prepping and helping me out. It’s been nothing but great since I’ve been here.”
Burrows was solid for the Pirates in June and July over the 11 starts before Tuesday’s outing, compiling a 3.08 ERA in 49 2/3 innings. And if you remove one poor start at Minnesota on July 12, Burrows’ ERA drops to 2.05 over that span.
But the Giants capitalized on Burrows’ mistakes Tuesday in his most recent start, leading to the career-high three homers allowed. Despite those damaging blows, Burrows blamed his three walks as the catalyst for the poor performance.
“I was really just mad about the walks,” Burrows said. “If they pop those up on first-pitch heaters, I mean, we’re not even talking about it. But yeah, they ambushed heaters, and they got a hold of them, and it’s kind of just tip your hat, good for them. Just more so mad about the walks.”
–Field Level Media
