It was a low-scoring affair last night at Great American Ball Park, but Cincinnati took advantage out outstanding pitching and two home runs in a 2-1 win over San Francisco. Tonight the Reds will look to pick up another win and seal a series victory over the Giants. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40pm ET.
Starting Lineups
Starting Pitchers
Rhett Lowder
The first two starts of 2026 went well for Lowder as he allowed two runs against Boston in a Reds win and then threw 6.0 shutout innings against Texas as the team combined for a shutout win. But his last time out he gave up four earned and one unearned in 5.1 innings in a blowout loss to Miami.
Lowder has been better at home than on the road in his career, but he’s got four home starts and five road starts so there’s not too much worth paying attention to in terms of predictability there. When it comes to the platoon splits there are some differences. Righties hit for a higher average but haven’t hit for much power at all against him. They’ve managed just two doubles in 97 plate appearances against him. Left-handed hitters aren’t hitting for much power against him either, but they are hitting for more. What they do, though, is walk at an incredibly high rate against him.
Career Splits
SplitPAH2B3BHRBBKAVGOBPSLGRHH9723200316.245.268.266LHH100163111717.193.330.289
Pitch Usage
4-Seam2-SeamSliderChangeVelo93.692.985.086.7Usage22%33%25%21%
Tyler Mahle
After missing much of the second half last season Mahle returned to the mound this year with the Giants to start the year. He was solid in his debut against the Yankees as he allowed two runs in 4.0 innings, but the Mets roughed him up a little bit as they had eight hits and two home runs while scoring five in 5.0 innings against him the next time out. He rebounded against the Phillies with 5.2 shutout innings in his last start, but did walk four batters in that outing.
Last season saw big home and road splits for Mahle. His home ERA was 0.84 but on the road it was 4.36 and his OPS against was 225 points higher on the road (but still just .729). Right-handed hitters found more success against Mahle last year as they hit for a higher average, walked more, and made more contact. Lefties didn’t hit much but when they did find hits they showed more power on those hits than righties did – but still showed incredibly low levels of power.
2025 Splits
SplitPAH2B3BHRBBKAVGOBPSLGRHH195447121931.250.323.335LHH151255031035.179.232.279
Pitch Usage
4-seamCutterSliderSplitVelo92.186.582.484.8Usage47%13%11%28%
When and Where
Game time: 6:40pm ETWhere: Great American Ball ParkWatch: Reds MLB Channel, Reds.tv (in-market), MLB.tv (out of market). You can check your zip code here and find out who carries the Reds MLB Channel in your area if you are unsure.Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)Forecast: 82°, partly cloudy, 0% chance of rain.
News and Notes
Emilio Pagan update
Mark Sheldon of Reds.com reported this afternoon that Pagan has a tight hamstring but that he said he appears “to have dodged a bullet”. Pagan played catch earlier today and got treatment.
Prospect Edwin Arroyo’s showing power again
Last night the Louisville Bats set a new franchise record in an 18-4 pummeling of Toledo that saw them his seven home runs. One of those came from Edwin Arroyo. He hit just three home runs between fall ball, winter ball, the regular season, the playoffs, and the World Baseball Classic between his return from the surgery and the start of the 2026 regular season. His homer on Tuesday matched his total in that stretch – three – in just his 16th game for the Bats this year. We have video and some words about his start (and more) in the Reds MiLB Notebook over at RedsMinorLeagues.com if you’re interested in checking that out.
Jackie Robinson Day
It’s Jackie Robinson Day around Major League Baseball. Everyone is going to be wearing #42 on their jersey to honor him. One cool thing that is being done today is over at Baseball Reference, where every day the front page features 12 players who played in the major leagues. Today the lineup is the first 12 players to break the color barrier in the game, in order of their first appearance.
Jackie Robinson – Brooklyn Dodgers – April 15, 1947Larry Doby – Cleveland – July 5, 1947Hank Thompson – St. Louis Browns – July 17, 1947Willard Brown – St. Louis Browns – July 19, 1947Dan Bankhead – Brooklyn Dodgers – August 26, 1947Roy Campanella – Brooklyn Dodgers – April 20, 1948Satchel Paige – Cleveland – July 9, 1948Minnie Minoso – Cleveland – April 19, 1949Don Newcombe – Brooklyn Dodgers – May 20, 1949Monte Irvin – New York Giants – July 8, 1949Luke Easter – Cleveland – August 11, 1949Sam Jethroe – Boston Braves – April 18, 1950
Division Standings
TeamWLGBPlayoff OddsCincinnati1070.021.6%Pittsburgh1070.060.7%St. Louis981.010.1%Milwaukee881.537.3%Chicago892.046.0%Playoff Odds via Fangraphs
