Reds at Pirates, Game 1 - Preview and Lineups

Tyler Mahle makes his season debut.

The Milwaukee Brewers are good, y’all. Damn good. They’ve lost just once all year, and it took a three dinger game from Paul Goldschmidt just to make that happen. They’ve beaten the St. Louis Cardinals three times, and they’ve beaten the Cincinnati Reds three times - each time by just a lone run, mind you.

There’s going to be plenty of that this year. That said, the Reds are going to be just fine.

Cincinnati is in Pittsburgh tonight to face the Pirates again. You’ll remember fondly that those two teams have played twice, and each has won once. The sky is not falling, the offense will wake up eventually, and the Reds and Pirates are going to tussle pretty evenly a lot for the rest of the season.

Tyler Mahle will make his season debut tonight on the mound for the Reds. He pitched the fourth game of the 2018 season for the Reds, you’ll remember, and spun a danged gem in the process: 6 innings of scoreless 1 H ball, with 7 K against just 2 BB against the Chicago Cubs in what was one of those prized, very few April wins. If he can replicate anything like that tonight, he’ll go a very, very long way towards making us forget that Alex Wood and his balky back are languishing on the 10-day IL for most of April.

First pitch is set for 7:05 PM ET, and the Pirates will be rolling out the incredibly hittable Jordan Lyles as their starter. Let’s hope tonight is the night the bats pick it up.

Reds Lineup

Pirates Lineup