Pittsburgh (57-85) at Cincinnati (70-71) 6:10 pm EDT
CINCINNATI (Ticker) - The Cincinnati Reds have been slumping
with the bats. One day after showing signs of life offensively,
the Reds hope to continue that trend in Saturday's game against
the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Cincinnati scored just 11 runs in its last five game before
defeating Pittsburgh, 9-1, on Friday. Javier Valentin homered
twice and Ryan Freel and Adam Dunn also homered as the Reds won
for just the third time in their last 16 games.
The Reds are 5 1/2 games behind St. Louis in the National League
Central Division and 3 1/2 games in back of San Diego in the
wild card chase.
Cincinnati starts Aaron Harang (13-10, 3.78 ERA), who is 2-1
with a 4.50 ERA in three outings against Pittsburgh this season
and has had success against the Pirates during his career.
The righthander was sharp against the Pirates on August 20,
allowing one run and five hits over seven innings of a 5-1
victory. In 11 career starts against Pittsburgh, Harang is 7-3
with a 4.34 ERA.
Paul Maholm (7-10, 4.91) takes the ball for the Pirates. The
lefthander has not lost since August 8, going 3-0 in his last
five starts despite a 5.40 ERA.
One of those starts came against the Reds on August 19, when he
allowed seven runs in five innings but did not factor in a 14-7
loss.