Ryan Vogelsong (3-4, 4.07 ERA) and Brandon Finnegan (8-10, 4.17 ERA) start in the last of a four-game series between the Pittsburgh Pirates (69-71) and the Cincinnati Reds (59-82) at PNC Park. The Reds won the last game 8-7, and Cincinnati leads the series 2-1. Action begins at 1:35 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sep. 11 and can be seen on RTPT.
Vogelsong pitched 4.0 innings in his most recent start, surrendering five runs, striking out two and walking one in a 9-7 defeat to the Cardinals. Starling Marte (.311, 71 Rs, 9 HRs, 46 RBIs, 47 SBs) had another good game yesterday, going 2 for 4 with one run. Finnegan went 5.0 innings, surrendering two runs, striking out six and walking four in a 5-3 defeat to the Mets in his last outing. Joey Votto (.318, 87 Rs, 23 HRs, 82 RBIs, 8 SBs) has been successful at the plate for the Reds, going 4 for 5 yesterday with two runs, one home run, and one RBI.
Notes
In their last game, the Reds won by a margin of one run. The Pirates are 19-20 in one-run games. The Reds have a 21-25 record in close games.
The Pirates are coming into this game after allowing two walks during their last outing. The Reds have a 20-49 record when opponents give up two walks or less.
It looks like the Reds have a slight leg up on the Pirates, as the Reds have won their last two games while the Pirates have lost their last two.
When they outhit their opponents, the Reds are 44-14. The Pirates have a 45-12 record when outhitting opponents.
Both falling in the bottom half of the league based on total runs this season, Pittsburgh ranks 18th with 628 runs and Cincinnati is 19th with 620.
Ranking 25th, Cincinnati is near the bottom of the league for its on-base plus slugging percentage (.723). Pittsburgh ranks in the bottom half at 19th with an OPS of .736.
The Reds are 40-68 when they allow at least one home run. The Pirates perform similarly when they allow one or more homers with a 36-57 record.
