The Cincinnati Reds (28-27) look to take the series from the Milwaukee Brewers (26-27) in game two of their three-game series on Tuesday evening at Great American Ballpark. The Reds will be welcoming Sonny Gray back to the mound after a stint on the injured list – it will be just his third start of September. Milwaukee will send left-handed starter Brett Anderson to the mound to try and counter and even the series up 1-1.
Starting Lineups
Milwaukee Brewers
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Cincinnati Reds
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| Jace Peterson – 2B | Aristides Aquino – LF |
| Christian Yelich – LF | Nick Castellanos – RF |
| Ryan Braun – RF | Joey Votto – 1B |
| Daniel Vogelbach – DH | Eugenio Suárez – 3B |
| Jedd Gyorko – 1B | Mike Moustakas – 2B |
| Orlando Arcia – SS | Tyler Stephenson – DH |
| Eric Sogard – 3B | Nick Senzel – CF |
| Tyrone Taylor – CF | Kyle Farmer – SS |
| Jacob Nottingham – C | Curt Casali – C |
| Brett Anderson – SP | Sonny Gray – SP |
Sonny Gray is back on the mound tonight for the first time in nearly two weeks. With Brett Anderson on the hill for the Brewers, David Bell is going with seven right-handed hitters in his lineup to start the game – only Joey Votto and Mike Moustakas hit from the left side in this one (at least until the bullpen comes into play).
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB% | K% |
| Sonny Gray | 45.2 | 3.94 | 1.29 | 10.7% | 30.6% |
| Brett Anderson | 39.0 | 4.38 | 1.36 | 5.4% | 14.3% |
| Links: Sonny Gray’s Stats | Brett Anderson’s Stats |
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Sonny Gray
Sonny Gray takes the mound for the first time since September 10th when he failed to get out of the 4th inning. The start before that he failed to get out of the 1st inning. Cincinnati put him on the injured list with a back strain following that outing on the 10th. He says he’s feeling great and is ready to go. The Reds are hoping he’s more like the guy prior to September who posted an ERA of 1.94 in seven starts.
Pitch Usage in 2020
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Slider | Curve | Change | |
| Velo | 93.5 | 93.1 | 83.4 | 81.1 | 89.1 |
| Usage | 27% | 28% | 17% | 27% | 1% |
Brett Anderson
Brett Anderson doesn’t walk many guys. He doesn’t strike out many guys, either. What he does do is get a ton of ground balls – with a 59.1% rate this season, which ranks 5th best in baseball among pitchers with at least eight starts this season.
The lefty hasn’t faced many lefties this season. In 31 plate appearances against other lefties, Anderson is holding them to a .250/.323/.393 line. In 137 plate appearances, right-handed hitters have a .296/.336/.472 line against him.
Pitch Usage in 2020
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Slider | Curve | Cutter | Change | |
| Velo | 90.1 | 90.0 | 82.0 | 76.3 | 87.6 | 83.1 |
| Usage | 4% | 41% | 10% | 10% | 11% | 24% |
When and Where
- Game time: 6:40pm ET
- Where: Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati
- Watch: Fox Sports Ohio, MLB.tv
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 70°, partly cloudy, 0% chance of rain
NL Central Standings
| Team | Wins | Losses | GB |
| Cubs | 32 | 22 | – |
| Cardinals | 26 | 25 | 4.5 |
| Reds | 28 | 27 | 4.5 |
| Brewers | 26 | 27 | 5.5 |
| Pittsburgh | 15 | 39 | 17.0 |
News and Notes
Nate Jones designated for assignment
The Reds needed to activate Sonny Gray so he could start tonight. That meant a 28-man roster move and Cincinnati decided to designate reliever Nate Jones for assignment.
Winning month!
Yesterday, the Reds clinched their first winning month since May of last year.
— Joel Luckhaupt (@jluckhaupt) September 22, 2020
A winning record beyond Opening Day?!
The Cincinnati Reds entered the day with a winning record. The last time the Reds had a winning record other than 1-0 after Opening Day was May 14th, 2017.
Updated Playoff Odds
Fangraphs projects the Cincinnati Reds playoff odds at 76.9% after a perfect day when it comes to wins and losses in the playoff race for Cincinnati. Baseball Reference now has the playoff odds at 74.0% for the Reds.