It’s Paul Skenes day, folks. The Pirates and Reds are playing an early afternoon getaway game, and the best pitcher in baseball toes the rubber for Pittsburgh. Can he rebound from a brutal Opening Day and deliver a win for the Pirates? Or will the Reds put the hurt on him?
First pitch is set for 12:40 p.m. ET. The Pirates are a -156 moneyline favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook. A Reds win is priced at +129. The game total is set at O/U 7.5 runs.
Let’s get into a pick and prediction for this Pirates-Reds game.
Pirates vs. Reds Preview
First things first, let’s get to know these starting pitchers.
Paul Skenes needs no introduction. In two seasons, he has amassed one Rookie of the Year Award, one Cy Young Award, two All-Star nods, and two seasons with a sub-2.00 ERA. Naturally, everyone was waiting to see how he’d kick off his third campaign. But the New York Mets had other ideas on Opening Day. Skenes failed to make it out of the first inning, surrendering four hits, two walks, and five (!!!) earned runs. For reference, he has three whole months in his career where he has surrendered fewer total runs.
However, it wasn’t entirely his fault. A nightmare day for his center fielder, Oneil Cruz, played a huge role in his disaster outing.
You’d better believe Skenes will be hungry to get back on track against a division rival.
Opposite Skenes will be Andrew Abbott. He was a surprise All-Star last season and finished eighth in National League Cy Young voting. The left-hander doesn’t overwhelm with stuff like most pitchers do nowadays; Abbott knows how to miss bats. In 2025, Abbott was 93rd percentile among all starters in hard-hit rate and 84th percentile in average exit velocity. On top of that, he had a stellar 6.3% walk rate. If you get on base against Abbott, you’re going to have to earn it, and then some.
Both of these lineups are showing promise in the early going. Pittsburgh is getting some valuable veteran production early on, and jumped all over Reds starter Brandon Williamson during Tuesday’s game. Maybe, just maybe, Skenes will have some consistent run support for once. Cincinnati got a big boost by bringing back Eugenio Suarez and calling up Sal Stewart for good, giving them some serious pop at the corner infield spots. Those two are getting along famously.
So, who takes home the rubber match on Wednesday to kick off the month of April?
Pirates vs. Reds Pick, Best Bet
The bats got hot on Tuesday, especially for Pittsburgh. But they’re going to quiet waaayyy down on Wednesday. Skenes and Abbott is a true pitchers’ duel, and even at Great American Ballpark, they’ll keep things under wraps. Count on a low-scoring affair here.
