The Cleveland Guardians and Cincinnati Reds both find themselves losing ground in their respective division races and in need of a win when the hook up in Cincinnati on Tuesday.
Cleveland Guardians(-118, 9.5) vs. Cincinnati Reds
Logan Allen gets the start for the Guardians, who has had a good rookie season, but has run into some issues recently with allowing five runs in two of his past four starts.
For the season Allen has a 3.55 ERA, but his fielding independent is 4.09 with 3.5 walks and 1.1 home runs allowed per nine innings and enters having allowed at least three walks in three consecutive starts.
The Reds counter with Graham Ashcraft, who’s 6-7 record with a 4.95 ERA are not indicative of how he’s pitched recently, allowing three runs or fewer in eight straight starts and two runs or fewer in seven of the.In this eight start stretch, Ashcraft has a 1.96 ERA with 2.8 walks and under 1.1 home runs per nine innings allowed and gets to face a Guardians offense that is last in the league in home runs.
With Josh Naylor currently on the injured list, the Guardians have just two players on the active roster with more than six home runs this season and Jose Ramirez, who has 18 home runs, has more hone runs than the next two top home run hitters on the roster combined with Andrea Gimenez and Gabriel Arias having 17 between them.
The Reds offense ranks ninth in the league in home runs per game at home and are eighth in the league in both runs per game and on-base percentage while the Guardians are 27th in runs per game.
With the Guardians entering the series having scored four runs or fewer in 12 of their last 16 games and the team’s bullpen ERA ranked 20th in the league the past 30 days, the Reds will get a much needed home win on Tuesday.
The Play: Reds -102
