Pirates try to avoid series sweep against the Reds

Pittsburgh Pirates (72-83, fifth in the NL Central) vs. Cincinnati Reds (76-80, fourth in the NL Central)

Cincinnati; Sunday, 1:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Paul Skenes (10-3, 2.07 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 158 strikeouts); Reds: Hunter Greene (0-0)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Pirates -124, Reds +105; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Cincinnati Reds will look to sweep a three-game series with a victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Cincinnati is 39-41 in home games and 76-80 overall. The Reds have a 53-13 record in games when they out-hit their opponents.

Pittsburgh has a 72-83 record overall and a 34-43 record in road games. The Pirates are 39-18 in games when they did not give up a home run.

Sunday's game is the 13th time these teams square off this season. The Pirates are up 7-5 in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Elly De La Cruz leads Cincinnati with 25 home runs while slugging .479. TJ Friedl is 11-for-36 with two home runs and nine RBI over the last 10 games.

Bryan Reynolds leads the Pirates with a .276 batting average, and has 29 doubles, three triples, 22 home runs, 54 walks and 85 RBI. Isiah Kiner-Falefa is 12-for-43 with an RBI over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Reds: 5-5, .248 batting average, 5.28 ERA, outscored by five runs

Pirates: 3-7, .239 batting average, 4.76 ERA, outscored by 27 runs

INJURIES: Reds: Brandon Williamson: 15-Day IL (elbow), Sam Moll: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Stuart Fairchild: 60-Day IL (thumb), Nick Lodolo: 15-Day IL (finger), Austin Wynns: 60-Day IL (teres), Andrew Abbott: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Jeimer Candelario: 10-Day IL (toe), Christian Roa: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Hunter Greene: 15-Day IL (elbow), Graham Ashcraft: 60-Day IL (elbow), Nick Martini: 60-Day IL (thumb), Christian Encarnacion-Strand: 60-Day IL (hand), Ian Gibaut: 60-Day IL (forearm), Tejay Antone: 60-Day IL (elbow), Matt McLain: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

Pirates: Kyle Nicolas: 15-Day IL (oblique ), Ben Heller: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Henry Davis: 10-Day IL (hand), Hunter Stratton: 60-Day IL (patella), Ke'Bryan Hayes: 10-Day IL (herniated disc), Marco Gonzales: 60-Day IL (forearm), Daulton Jefferies: 60-Day IL (elbow), Dauri Moreta: 60-Day IL (elbow), Endy Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Johan Oviedo: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press