Reds turn to Hunter Greene as they try and stop red hot Rays

Is a 14-2 record even that good?

The Cincinnati Reds were flying pretty high on Saturday evening. After a 13-0 smashing of the Philadelphia Phillies, they headed into Sunday afternoon with a chance to take the series and build a little momentum. Instead, they were behind 9-0 before they even had a batter step to the plate, and went home with a split after a 14-3 defeat. Now, there’s no time to lick their wounds, as the team who started the year 13-0 comes to town and looks to set things right after losing their first series of the year this past weekend.

The Tampa bay Rays, as you all know by now, tied for the best start in Major League history when they began the season 13-0. They come into this week Cincinnati boasting the best offense in the Majors by a long shot. Their team OPS of .896 is .085 better than the next closest team and they lead all of baseball in home runs (36) and pretty much every other metric. Oh, and they have a team ERA of 2.54, which is also the best in baseball. Turns out a really good offense and a really good pitching staff helps win you a lot of games.

The Reds will send Hunter Greene to the mound to try and slow down this train. Greene is coming off his best start of the season, where he allowed 3 runs, no walks, and struck out 10 in 6 innings of work against the Atlanta Braves last week. Tampa Bay will send Jalen Beeks, who will be making his second start of the season. Beeks has made 4 appearances on the season and pitched just 6 innings. His only start went for 2 innings back on April 10, where he allowed no runs on a hit with 2 strikeouts. I’d expect more of the same usage from the lefty tonight.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 PM EDT. The game will be broadcast on 700 WLW and televised on Bally Sports Ohio. Go Reds!

Cincinnati Lineup

Tampa Bay Lineup