Rockies at Reds
Anthony DeSclafani will make his first appearance in the majors in over 20 months when he gets the start for the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday in the opener of a three-game series against the visiting Colorado Rockies. The 28-year-old DeSclafani missed all of 2017 with an elbow injury and has sat out the first two-plus months this year due to a strained oblique, but seemingly has nothing holding him back anymore.
"Very much so," Reds manager Jim Riggleman told reporters when asked if DeSclafani is ready to go. "He's gone through many rehab starts at three different levels, all the Goodyear stuff. He's stretched out to the high 90s in pitches. There's nothing left for him to do except pitch for us." Cincinnati will be looking to recover from a 3-6 road trip that included a series loss at Colorado. That was part of an uneven homestand for the Rockies, who opened their stay at Coors Field with four wins in five games before dropping the final four contests while giving up an average of 10 runs. Kyle Freeland has a quality start in six of his last seven outings and will try to stop the bleeding for Colorado when he gets the nod opposite DeSclafani.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Colorado), FS Ohio (Cincinnati)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies LH Kyle Freeland (5-5, 3.43 ERA) vs. Reds RH Anthony DeSclafani (NR)
Freeland got through a start without issuing a walk in his last turn against San Francisco, but he served up a pair of home runs and gave up eight hits overall while allowing three runs in 5 1/3 innings. He is 2-4 with a 4.17 ERA in seven road appearances, although each of the last four have been quality starts. The 25-year-old was roughed up for nine runs in 11 innings over two meetings with the Reds last year while serving up home runs to Joey Votto, Scott Schebler and Jose Peraza.
DeSclafani led the 2015 Reds in starts (31), innings (184 2/3) and strikeouts (151) and then went 9-5 with a 3.28 ERA in 20 starts the following year. He made four rehab appearances in the minors last month, going 0-3 with a 4.66 ERA. The New Jersey native made one prior start against the Rockies in 2015 and allowed three runs in seven frames.
WALK-OFFS
1. Reds 2B Scooter Gennett had two homers, a double and a single in the last three games and enters the series hitting .342.
2. Freeland hit his only career home run in Cincinnati on May 21, 2017.
3. Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado has three straight multi-hit games and was 4-for-9 with two homers in the three-game series versus Cincinnati two weekends ago.