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The Pittsburgh Pirates take on the Cincinnati Reds with first pitch set for 1:40 p.m. ET at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, OH. The Pirates will send Zach Thompson (1-3, 9.39 ERA) to the mound, while the Reds will counter with Tyler Mahle (1-4, 7.01 ERA).
The Pirates are down bad. They had their starting catcher get hurt in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader. Their backup catcher was ejected, so they had to turn to their emergency catcher and second baseman Josh VanMeter struggled behind the plate. Pittsburgh needs a big outing from Thompson. He hasn’t pitched more than four innings in a game yet this season, but the Pirates are hoping an outing out of the bullpen helped him reset.
The Reds were finally able to get back into the win column. They took the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader 9-2 on the back of two clutch doubles from Tyler Stephenson. He finished 3-4 and had four RBIs. Mahle is in desperate need of a bounce-back outing. In his last start, he pitched 3.1 innings and gave up four hits, and four earned runs while only striking out two.
Pirates vs. Reds
Pitchers: Zach Thompson vs. Tyler Mahle
First pitch: 1:40 p.m. ET
Pirates local broadcast:
Reds local broadcast:
Live stream: WatchESPN, ESPN app with ESPN+
Moneyline odds: Pittsburgh +115, Cincinnati -135
If you aren’t around a TV to check out this MLB matchup, you can stream the game via WatchESPN or the ESPN app. But keep in mind — you’ll need a subscription to ESPN+. You can subscribe to ESPN+ on the ESPN website, where you can get a monthly subscription for $5.99, or get the ESPN/Disney/Hulu bundle for $13.99 per month.