The Cincinnati Reds entered the weekend tied with the Miami Marlins tied for the final National League Wild Card spot and bring in reinforcements for their playoff push as they play the Toronto Blue Jays at home on Sunday.
Toronto Blue Jays (-115, 9) vs. Cincinnati Reds
Hunter Greene gets his first start on the mound since June 17 and while he looked good in his last minor league tune up start with 5 2/3 innings scoreless against the AAA Iowa Cubs, pitching at Great American Ballpark has always been a struggle for him.
In his 16 career starts at home, Greene has a 4.84 ERA with 1.9 home runs per nine innings allowed, which is even higher in 2023 with a 5.18 ERA and 2.2 home runs per nine innings allowed in Cincinnati compared to a 3.31 ERA on the road with less than 0.6 home runs per nine innings allowed.
The Blue Jays counter with Hyun-Jin Ryu, who’s making just his fourth start of the season, posting a solid 2.57 ERA, but has yet to go past five innings in a start and have a 3.91 fielding independent with 5.1 strikeouts per nine innings.
Ryu is back by an offense that has performed better on the road than at home this season, entering the weekend leading the American League in road batting average at .263 while registering just over 4.7 runs per game on the road compared to 4.1 runs per game at home.
The Blue Jays also Bo Bichette back in the lineup, who leads the team in batting average at .321 entering the weekend and when he went on the injured list to start August, was tied for the team lead in home runs with 17.
For the Reds, since the start of June the power has increase, ranking third in the National League in home runs per game with nearly 1.5 home runs per game while their 4.9 runs per game ranks eighth in the league in this span.
The Reds pitching staff entered the weekend having surrendered 14 more home runs at home than any other team in the National League and with a pair of offenses that rank in the top nine in on-base percentage, it will be struggle for either starter to get outs on Sunday.
The Play: Blue Jays vs. Reds Over 9
