Pirates at Reds
Scooter Gennett didn't make much of an impact in the Cincinnati Reds' first series with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but he sure packed a punch to start the next encounter. The Cincinnati native looks to follow up his season-high six-RBI performance on Wednesday when the Reds (17-32) vie for a series victory against the Pirates (26-21) at Great American Ball Park.
Gennett, who went 1-for-16 as Cincinnati dropped three of four to Pittsburgh in April, launched his fifth grand slam in two seasons to highlight Tuesday's 7-2 romp. The 28-year-old has 23 hits - including six homers - to go along with 19 RBIs and 11 runs scored in his last 14 games overall heading into a meeting with Wednesday starter Chad Kuhl, against whom he is just 1-for-12 with five strikeouts. Pittsburgh has answered an 8-1 stretch with losses in four straight, which is one shy of its season high for losses set from April 19-25. Austin Meadows went deep for the second time in as many outings to highlight a 6-for-15 run with three RBIs in his first four career games.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh, FSN Ohio (Cincinnati)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Chad Kuhl (4-2, 4.53 ERA) vs. Reds RH Homer Bailey (1-6, 6.11)
Kuhl recorded his second straight no-decision on Thursday after allowing four runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings against San Diego. The 25-year-old struggled with his control by tossing just 50 strikes on 85 pitches to drive up his pitch count. Kuhl also received a no-decision in his last meeting with Cincinnati on April 7, although he yielded just two runs and struck out seven in five innings.
Bailey has taken his lumps of late to the tune of surrendering 24 runs on 41 hits in his last five outings, during which he owns a 1-3 mark while seeing his ERA balloon from 3.68 to 6.11. The 32-year-old surrendered six runs for the second time in three trips to the mound despite keeping the ball in the park for the first time since April 10. Bailey was blitzed for five runs while issuing three walks in 4 2/3 innings of a 5-2 setback at Pittsburgh on April 5.
WALK-OFFS
1. Pittsburgh 3B Colin Moran belted a solo homer on Tuesday to hit safely in eight of his last 10 games.
2. Reds 3B Eugenio Suarez had a pair of hits in the opener to improve to 7-for-17 against the Pirates this season.
3. Pittsburgh 2B Josh Harrison has four hits in two games since returning from a month-plus-long absence due to a hand injury.