After running into Mother Nature and losing the battle, the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Guardians will be playing two games today in a day-night doubleheader. The first game of the day will be played at 1:40pm ET, with the second game coming later on in the day at 7:10pm ET.
Starting Lineups
Cleveland Guardians | Cincinnati Reds |
| Steven Kwan – LF | Elly De La Cruz – SS |
| Jose Ramirez – 3B | Sal Stewart – 1B |
| Chase DeLauter – DH | JJ Bleday – RF |
| Travis Bazzana – 2B | Eugenio Suarez – 3B |
| Brayan Rocchio – SS | Nathaniel Lowe – DH |
| Kyle Manzardo – 1B | Tyler Stephenson – C |
| Angel Martinez – RF | Dane Myers – CF |
| Patrick Bailey – C | Edwin Arroyo – 2B |
| Petey Halpin – CF | TJ Friedl – LF |
| Slade Cecconi – RHP | Chase Burns – RHP |
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB | K |
| Chase Burns | 107.2 | 2.42 | 1.11 | 39 | 124 |
| Slade Cecconi | 103.2 | 4.60 | 1.45 | 34 | 82 |
| Links: Chase Burns’ Stats | Slade Cecconi’s Stats | |||||
Chase Burns
After making his first All-Star team and signing a record-breaking extension, Burns picked up his 12th win of the season in his first start of the second half. He threw 5.0 shutout innings against Seattle in a 4-2 Reds win.
The splits against Burns are noticeable. Righties don’t hit for average, don’t walk, don’t make contact, and they don’t hit for power. Left-handed hitters don’t hit for much average at all, either. But they do walk often against him and when they do find a hit they show solid amounts of power against him.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 168 | 31 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 44 | .194 | .232 | .281 |
| LHH | 265 | 49 | 9 | 2 | 10 | 31 | 80 | .211 | .303 | .397 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-seam | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 97.8 | 90.5 | 81.7 |
| Usage | 57% | 37% | 5% |
Slade Cecconi
The start of the season didn’t go well for Cecconi as he had a 6.56 ERA through seven starts. Things started going better by early May, but July has been tough as he’s allowed 11 earned runs and another four unearned in 13.1 innings while giving up 22 hits in the month.
The splits against Cecconi aren’t that big. Righties and lefties both hit for a high average against him. Lefties walk more but righties are hitting for more power. Both groups of hitters make plenty of contact against him.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 191 | 50 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 11 | 32 | .284 | .326 | .466 |
| LHH | 264 | 66 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 23 | 50 | .281 | .345 | .434 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-sm | 2-sm | Cutter | Curve | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 93.3 | 93.3 | 88.2 | 75.7 | 82.4 | 82.7 |
| Usage | 26% | 21% | 25% | 15% | 10% | 2% |
When and Where
- Game time: 1:40pm ET
- Where: Great American Ball Park
- Watch: Reds MLB Channel, Reds.tv (in-market), MLB.tv (out of market).
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 83°, partly cloudy, 5% chance of rain
News and Notes
Jose Franco called up
With a doubleheader on tap for today the Reds are using their 27th man to bring up pitcher Jose Franco. He was expected to pitch today for Louisville, so he will be on full rest and could handle a starters workload, though he may not be the starter in game two as the team has stated they are going with an opener.
Division Standings
| Team | W | L | GB | Playoff Odds |
| Milwaukee | 66 | 40 | 0.0 | 99.7% |
| Chicago | 60 | 46 | 6.0 | 91.0% |
| Pittsburgh | 55 | 52 | 11.5 | 47.5% |
| St. Louis | 53 | 53 | 13.0 | 14.7% |
| Cincinnati | 49 | 55 | 16.0 | 2.1% |
| Playoff Odds via Fangraphs | ||||
Opener plus Franco in game 2 pushes Singer to tomorrow in possibly his last start as a Red. Why not just start Franco in game 2? Lodolo doesn’t look like he’ll be back in the rotation soon, so this may be a good chance for Franco in his bid to take the spot soon to be vacated by Singer until Lodolo is ready to return.
I agree. Could be a nice tryout for Franco. Some rumblings elsewhere on the net say Singer’s market is hot, he may not last til tomorrow. We shall see.
Go Reds
If I’m the FO, I don’t deal Singer until after the start. I don’t want to mess with the rest of the rotation. The other team can wait a day.
RedsRedsFanForLife- I agree. Trade him after his start unless the receiving team wants to sweeten the deal.
I was in Cleveland for the Reds game earlier this year and they are loaded with lefty hitters. I presume the opener will be a lefty to get thru the first 5 hitters or so.
A good article but I’m not sure that I’d sell as broadly as he suggests. I do agree that Krall hasn’t earned the benefit of the doubt. Not only have the Reds mostly failed to develop potential, Krall and Co lack any sense of urgency. He should have been making moves two months ago while there was still a reasonable chance to make the playoffs. He should have addressed the OF holes in the offseason each of the last two years. He didn’t. So, there’s absolutely no reason to think he’ll get it right this time.
https://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/article/its-time-for-the-reds-to-wave-the-white-flag-on-2026/
I think Reds have done well through draft but bad through trades. Elly, Sal, Burns, AA are all drafted and they are great, right? The last good player through trades is, hum, I don’t know.
I particularly like this paragraph by Chad Dotson who wrote this article:
“I know, I’m squinting again. I have little faith that Nick Krall and company can execute a trade deadline that sets the team up for success next year. This is the group that thought trading for Ke’Bryan Hayes and his fat contract was a good idea. The team that threw money at Jeimer Candelario, money that this “small market” franchise claims they don’t have. The team that took the opportunity of being in first place at the 2023 trade deadline and added just Sam Moll. Krall later said he had no regrets. I do.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it. I’ve been waiting a long, long time.”
I concur Mr. Dotson. 😀
Let’s get W-2, that’s 2 wins, today. Let’s go Reds.
Error by Arroyo. Tyler didn’t challenge the 0-1 slider which was a strike. Here they go?
Can we just agree that right now Arryo is not a good second baseman hope he can mature into one.
Burns should have been out of the inning with 11 pitches.
Well that didn’t go right.
Hung a slider. Cmon
Manager challenge on the hbp backfired big time.
It skimmed his hand for sure. You could hear a double tap like they said. Oh well
Arroyo is killing this team on defense. Simple stuff. Don’t think so much, just get the out in front of you
He sure is – he’s not good at all at second base …. at all
Yep ! I didnt see the game but I saw that we had 3 or 4 unearned runs given up . I said to myself before I even checked, I bet ” Error ” Arroyo probably had an error . Yep !
I don’t want to hear anything about ” he,’s in a new position stuff ” !
You can either field a ground ball or ypu can’t! You know my answer !
It looks like he is afraid of the ball ,lol
So frustrating ! Oh well !
Go Reds !
You *
What in the world is going on today?
But, But, But defense doesn’t matter. Should of been a 0 spot
As long as they can hit… lol
Well….Burns season is on the downhill slide….worn down or whatever….has not looked anything like he did early in the season
2.81 in July and these were unearned…idk? He’s been throwing alot of pitches all year which is common for a young strikeout pitcher
gets to 2 strikes & has had trouble putting the batter away
He is good if you turn basic plays don’t put this on Burns
Agree. Bunch of 90 pitch five inning starts. Lots of effort but nothing is coming easy. We knew this day was approaching. Little surprised they didn’t start Singer instead of Burns. Would have given Burns an extra day or two. Now Singer may not pitch again as a Red after Wed. Giving up on the season before it is really time. We still could close within 3-4 of the wildcard by Sunday. I don’t have any faith but that is too close to give up.
Just tuned in! What a nightmarish 1st inning!
I’m ready to go back to McClain since Steer isn’t around to play 2B. Arroyo isn’t hitting nearly enough to be such a hack with the glove. He came up with the smooth fielding rep I thought?
Or even McLain.
Absolutely agree he exposes our bullpen more regulary by extending innings
Well, he was a shortstop coming up wasn’t he not primarily a second baseman.
Yeah , i heard thr sane , thay he eas our best fielder . Smooth , ect…lol
He acts like he is afraid of the ball, i had little leaguer’ s that could field better ! And i moved them all around the diamond too !
Oh well, wait till next year….or 20 years ….ugh
Go Reds !
It’s early still. They just need to chip away.
Problem is Chase won’t last long and our B team relievers couldn’t hold a AA team down. If we’re within 1-2 by the time Chase comes out then maybe
They’ve already quit.
Forgot the start time (got busy with the other side of my desk). Fired up the main site to see the horror show …
4 UNEARNED RUNS AGAIN????
You just can’t make this stuff up 😮
Here comes 5 at a minimum.
Maybe Burns can get out of this…48 pitches already
Ok thats a start. Chase’s slider isn’t much today. Their guy is 7.43 in July so lets swing the bats for once
It seems that this 2026 Reds team makes at least one preventable error per game, mental or physical! Unfortunately, Arroyo’s error was huge as it turned out!
Was hoping to win Game 1 as Cleveland’s SP tonight is one of their best!
Myers is not a platoon player anymore. Pencil him in as the starting CF for the rest of the year and the front runner in ‘27.
Little guys popping up. I’ll give it one more inning. Friedl finally started walking last year, but that flyball swing has always been a big downer to me
Let’s leave some more on base – just ain’t seeing it with Arroyo
6 for his last 20 with 2 walks. Thats .300 and .364 obp, but all singles and can’t seem to steal a base either
No power , no stolen bases, but lots of ” Errors ” * missed taylor made double plays . Smh !
Go Reds !
Burns has lost his focus! Time to take him out of this game!
Then what? Burn your bullpen for game 1 of dh??
Friedl .136 since he came back. Dfa already
Cmon man. He hesitated for a second so just forget it
So silly. They made the rules easier for steals. Thats your plan dude
Truth…Especially down 4.
Could have been a 2 run homer. I love Elly but know who is out there. Dude has a top arm and had it in his glove and throwing by time he hit 1st.
Elly gave away 1. Arroyo/Chase gave away 4. Not a good baseball team. They’re really fortunate to only be 6 under with their poor hitting, relieving, and baseball iq
Not watching it, however sounds like from your description a bone headed play by Elly?
Not close?
He was out by 10 feet. No outs and trying for a double wasn’t going to really help you. Chip away like I said.
No and I knew he’d go for it when a steal is much easier
Potentially…but no.
Different pitches from windup vs stretch.
Doesn’t mean Sal homers if Elly is on 1st.
Good point, but Elly on 1st gives Stew a better chance at a meatball
Indy- exactly.
Reds look like a charity organization today, giving away. Not sure if they can overcome. Well hard to overcome when #3 and #4 hitters not doing anything. #8 and %9 batters terrible as well.
When down 4-0 probably shouldn’t, or shouldn’t try to stretch a single into a double. As JB said chip away.
No excuses for that, other than maybe thinking try to get into scoring position? Still save your outs when down
These 2 teams tied for worst hitting team in mlb. SD got hot and moved up. Ex-Red Ty France killing it for them.
Obviously this team has not quit yet.
Pay Tyler please. Hitting catchers just left the game for the most part
I agree,
Nice 7-pitch 4th inning for Burns! Guess I was wrong about him losing his focus!
Now, will this offense wake up and make this a come-from-behind win?
2-0 man….bad at-bat. Take it or try to go to the right side. Bunt would’ve made sense
Chipping away.
2-0 little man….so of course Friedl is hacking
D
F
A
Friedl has fallen off a cliff wow … a long time ago
They need to trade for someone with Dunn needing surgery.
Elly could make amends here.
I’m a huge Friedl fan but I would rather see anybody else but him. It’s over. I’m not a Benson fan and I would rather see him over Friedl. This is why I would rather see Marte in the outfield every day than watch Friedl hit.
“This is why I would rather see Marte in the outfield every day than watch Friedl hit.”
Not a big Marte fan but I can’t argue with you there.
Hit n run here….Elly has righties covered. Most likely off speed
Sal! This team hasn’t quit!!!!!!!
Tuned in (between meetings) in time to see Sal punish the Guardrails with a 2RBI single (thanks Elly).
Good to see them take themselves off the hook (and Burns by extension).
I think Sal is a keeper! 🙂
There are times when I remember why I like the Reds.
?
I don’t get it I sent a happy face not a question mark ?
Big Sal ROY – Weatherholt just NO
Not even close!
Elly looked like a greyhound there.
Really dumb for Clev to pitch to Stew with Bleday L vs L on deck. Stewie should be ROY easily. He was 4-1 the other day
Agree. Regardless of L on L, I would pitch aroumd Sal and get to Bleday. L on L match up didnt work out for St Loi when they walked Suarez to get to Lowe. I rather say Dont pitch to hitters that are on a hot streak and try to get hitters that can’t hit the ball into the ocean.
Time to move Lowe and Stephenson to 3rd and 4th.
Aside from the unearned fiasco, has Burns been solid for the most part? I mean aside from that single Ramirez just ripped …
That was a HUGE lead by Manny. Was nobody paying attention to him?
Yes. He threw a lot of pitches in the first and had 50 by the end of the second, but he has really settled down.
Sad to see and say but Friedl is pretty much an automatic out these days! In the 4-run 4th he did nothing to advance the runner!
Well dang.
That stung a little bit, but they’re aggressive on the bases & we’re not. Games like this we miss GA. Could go get you 6-8 outs and we don’t have that now
The Indians from North Ohio show how to score a run on a lone single! Single, steal 2nd base, steal 3rd base and score on a sac fly!
Hard to believe that Burns is at 89 pitches thru 5 innings after a 30+ pitch 1st inning!
Geno? Every time you think he’s getting on a HR binge then he goes 1-22 or something. 0-2 pitch hanger down the middle there that he missed
Yep! One HR about every 6th or 7th game! Then nothing!
Way to put the ball in play boys! 3 straight SOs in the bottom of the 5th inning! Geez!
0.32 at AAA. That guy is pretty nasty when you haven’t seen him before
Burke will be 30 next week and this is really only his 2nd good year. Pro baseball is hard
Battle of pen. It’s a toss up. I like our chances because we have Elly and Sal bats.
But they have Ramirez.
8 pitch scoreless inning for Burke but Tito will spin the RP roulette wheel and send someone else out for the next inning!
Don’t bother working TJ….just heater down the middle, get your popup and move on
This guy Aleman is unhittable apparently…yikes
5 SOs in the last 2 innings by Reds “hitters”! Incredible to watch!
Good pitchers are hard to hit.
Steer and Dunn hurt. Our OF is the worst in mlb….has to be? Friedl is done. Marte mostly stinks. Idk about McLain in CF or Johnson in LF? They could try something different?
Nice job by Johnson to battle back from a 3-0 count on Kwan for the 3rd out!
Idk guys? Tito trying to save Burke for game 2, but he’s our best and another inning couldn’t lengthened the pen for this one. Seems like we’re at a disadvantage now
Moll about to grieve up again ….geeze man this guys has not been very good lately
Moll can’t get either lefty out. Thats probably it. Tito could’ve used Burke for 2 instead, but maybe he wiggles out? I called it beforehand though
Big time
FAIL ….
Can’t sweep if you don’t win the first. Moll is probably the worst reliever in the pen. Head scratcher
And that’s how other teams can score …Moll looking for another loss in the eight inning
I should’ve cashed out up 5-4. I have/had a bad feeling about our pen without GA
I knew Moll was trouble when he came in….I would trade him away for a bag of balls…he can’t even get lefties out anymore
I’d settle for an empty ball bag!
I’d settle for just the ball bag!
Get Moll out please. They steal 2 sac fly and then bunt the go-ahead in. We do none of that….ever
Thanks Moll awesome effort … leaving him in is even worse Tito
Leave it to Moll to give back the lead! If Krall is looking for someone to trade Moll would be top of my list!
Wouldnt hurt my feelings none …. He ain’t been good for a bit now . To me he’s been one of the most unreliable pieces of the bullpen for a while now.
Burke only threw 8 pitches. You rally back from 4 down and thats big. Go with your best and then let Game 2 figure itself out. Tito is nothing special now. No better feel for situations then Bell
Agree! Just don’t understand the RP roulette! D. Bell was famous for it and it drove me nuts!
Seen this one before. Bad loss. Arroyo/Chase cost us 4. Send this guy, Tyler is making good contact
I didn’t mind aggressiveness of EDC earlier getting thrown out at 2nd. Took a perfect throw. But I can understand sometimes frustration with his risks. But then him scoring from first later in the game was just incredible. He looks healthy leg wise which is great.
Guardians have advantage in the pen. Nice comeback by the Reds showing some fights. Bleday isn’t a #3 hitter. Seems he just had one great month and maybe hasn’t adjusted to how he’s being pitched I wonder.
need 6 outs in 8/9th inn. to hopefully win the game….the last person i would put in would have been Moll….has Tito seen him pitch lately?
Lost his game notes apparently!
He’s struggled it seems for awhile, but they can’t hide him. Have to use him at some point. But I would say in a close or tie game he probably shouldn’t be in the game.
You steal 2nd…Tyler would’ve moved him to 3rd. Myers scores him
Please pinch hit for Friedl in the 9th Tito! Pretty please with chili on top!
Passive Tito cost us the tie
Sounds like 3/4 of the fans are Cleveland.
Why is it whenever this team has a runner in scoring position and we need a single we end up with a SO?
Ivan Johnson 21-4 steals last 2 years. I swear I hate standing and waiting. Clev stole this game literally
How many one-run losses this season? And how many games lost by the Reds bullpen?
Petty was rumored to be the opener in game 2 today, but is pitching the 9th. Do they go with a different opener or just start Franco now?
I thought Chase Petty was going to pitch in the 2nd game to cover a bunch of innings with Franco…but Tito didn’t think so
Who had Friedl hitting in the 9th on their bingo card? Who had him popping up? I swear Tito is playing to lose this.
He might think he was still managing for Cleveland…
9 strikeouts by the Reds so far! And 7 of those SOs from the 5th thru 8th inning!
This one is 90% on Tito. He didn’t get another inning out of Burke & went with Moll instead. Didn’t run Johnson when Stephenson could’ve got him to 3rd
It doesn’t work like that and you know it.
You keep saying that future event will happen the same way, even if prior events change
Friedl , great defense and all , has zero
business on this roster . He’s done .
I guess because of the double-header, we don’t pinch hit in the 9th for Friedl?
Who in their right mind would send Friedl, a .168 hitter, up to leadoff the 9th inning! And what does he do? Weak popup that doesn’t even get out of the infield! That one is on Tito!
I think the Reds only need to ramp up Williamson to 30-45 pitches and he has already thrown live BP in Arizona. He should be out on a rehab assignment soon and then into the bullpen right after the deadline. Lodolo has thrown multiple bullpen sessions and should move to live BP soon. A rehab assignment should follow soon after that and he could be back in the rotation by mid August.
Well, at least we accomplished our double-digit SO total!
Tito with a bad game …. Wow.
Sell, sell, sell …. Needed this game , come home and FLOP again as usual . Horrible at home …. It’s unbelievable
Yep! 22-29 at home won’t get you into the postseason!
One order of pre-dinner SFP coming up!
Not on Burns despite working too hard. Partly on the error. Partly on our inability to convert this afternoon.
Back later for round 2 of the abuse.
Brutal loss at home! Reds are now 22-29 at home and any chance at the postseason is fading like my hairline!
Hayes homers the other day and feels good about it and Tito pinch hits for him in the 9th. Worked out I believe. Friedl has done zip all year and Tito doesn’t pinch hit for him. If that was Bell he would have been lynched.
Honestly, I don’t care if Friedl is out of the lineup the rest of the season! Buy him a comfy cushion and let him ride the bench! Give somebody, anybody, a chance to hit the ball out of the infield!
Out hit them but they attacked on the bases and their pen was better. No Moll and we’re still tied and he didn’t have to put him in
I’m almost tempted to comb the box scores to see if ANY team in MLB starts an outfielder batting under .170 with a .500 OPS 100 games into the season. The same self-flagellant instinct that had me watch this entire game. But I won’t. I will say if the organization really has no better option than Friedl in the OF it bespeaks a deeply ailing franchise.
No point in watching tonight.
The lineup I think Tito puts out for game 2. Elly, Sal, Bleday, Stephenson, Lowe, Myers, Marte, Arroyo, Hayes
Moll couldn’t do his job one more time ..the offense was stuck after the 4-run rally because they couldn’t hit any Guards reliever …
Now they have to win somehow the game 2 today and game 3 tomorrow…
Tito loves so much Friedl… Friedl is pathetic right now…Reds have 2 of the worst hitters in MLB …
That was a fun back and forth game! I love the fight of this team. Can’t wait for game two this evening.