Reds at Brewers
The Cincinnati Reds are still keeping tabs on the National League Central title while they create distance in the race for the second wild card. Winners of four in a row and seven of eight, the streaking Reds look to continue their good fortune on Thursday when they open a four-game set versus the host Milwaukee Brewers. Todd Frazier homered as Cincinnati completed a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs with a 5-0 triumph on Wednesday.
The Reds reside 3 1/2 games behind Pittsburgh in the NL Central and 5 1/2 ahead of Arizona in the wild-card race. Milwaukee returns home after splitting an abbreviated two-game interleague series against Texas to finish a road trip with a 5-4 mark. Juan Francisco, who was signed by Cincinnati in 2004, went deep twice for the second time this season to raise his career-high home run total to 17 in the Brewers' 5-4 loss on Wednesday.
TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, FSOH (Cincinnati), FSWI (Milwaukee)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Reds LH Tony Cingrani (5-2, 2.87 ERA) vs. Brewers RH Kyle Lohse (8-7, 3.26)
Cingrani suffered a hard-luck loss after allowing two runs on as many hits in five innings en route to a 3-1 setback to San Diego on Saturday. The loss was the 24-year-old's first since dropping a heartbreaker to Milwaukee on July 9. Cingrani yielded two runs on three hits and struck out 10 in a 2-0 defeat.
Lohse won his third straight decision after permitting three runs on six hits in seven innings in a 10-5 triumph over Seattle on Friday. The 34-year-old improved to 4-3 versus Cincinnati after allowing three runs in 6 2/3 innings in a 4-3 victory on July 8. Lohse has yielded 20 homers this season, but only one in his last five trips to the mound.
WALK-OFFS
1. Milwaukee SS Jean Segura is riding a 10-game hitting streak, but he went 0-for-2 with a strikeout against Cingrani on July 9.
2. Cincinnati CF Shin-Soo Choo received a day off on Wednesday as he continues to deal with a hand injury.
3. Francisco, who went 2-for-4 on Wednesday, is 11-for-28 with nine RBIs in August.