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The Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates square off on Thursday with first pitch set for 6:35 p.m. ET. The game takes place at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, PA, and will available to watch on ESPN+. Connor Overton (0-0, 2.53 ERA) will be stepping on the mound for the Reds and will be going head-to-head with JT Brubaker (0-2, 5.68 ERA)
Cincinnati (7-24) is still in a perilous position with the worst record in the majors but has had a pretty good week by winning four of its last six contests. Taking two out of the three from the Pirates last weekend, the Reds followed that up with two more wins in its series against the NL Central-leading Brewers this week. Their bats got active in yesterday’s 14-11 victory, a game where the team had 14 hits total.
Pittsburgh (13-17) sits smack dab in the middle of the NL Central standings and was able to take two of three off the Dodgers in their home series this week. Tied 3-3 in yesterday’s contest, DH Daniel Volgelbach homered in the bottom of the seventh to put the Pirates on top. They’d tack on an insurance run in the eighth to lock in the 5-3 win.
Reds vs. Pirates
Pitchers: Connor Overton vs. JT Brubaker
First pitch: 6:35 p.m. ET
Reds local broadcast: Bally Sports Ohio
Pirates local broadcast: AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh
Live stream: WatchESPN, ESPN app with ESPN+
Moneyline odds: Pirates -135, Reds +115
Picks & predictions
Moneyline pick: Pirates -135
Both teams are coming off big series victories earlier in the week and will look to continue the momentum into this weekend division showdown. The edge for tonight has to go to the home team, who is looking to gain some ground on the Cardinals for second place in the NL Central. Pittsburgh prevailed 8-5 when Overton and Brubaker last battled each other on the mound last Saturday and we should get a similar result tonight.
Player prop pick: JT Brubaker Over 5.5 strikeouts (+120)
In the aforementioned matchup, Brubaker was able to sit down nine Cincinnati batters on strikes in just five innings. His season average currently sits at five and he should be able to once again blow past that this evening.
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