The Cincinnati Reds will try to win just their second road series of the season on Tuesday night when they face the host Arizona Diamondbacks in the second contest of their three-game series in Phoenix.
Right-hander Tyler Mahle (2-5, 5.07 ERA), who has never beaten the Diamondbacks in four career starts (0-1, 2.57 ERA), will take the mound for the Reds.
Right-hander Zach Davies (2-3, 4.21 ERA), who is 3-5 with a 4.41 ERA in 17 career starts against Cincinnati, will get the start for the Diamondbacks.
It’s a pitching rematch of a series finale played in Cincinnati last Thursday.
Mahle registered a season-high 10 strikeouts while allowing one run on four hits over six innings while Davies gave up three runs on six hits and struck out seven. Arizona, behind a two-run single by Josh Rojas and an RBI groundout by David Peralta, rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the ninth inning to pull out a 5-4 victory in that one.
The Reds’ road series win came in mid-May when they swept a two-game set from Cleveland.
Cincinnati, behind a three-run fifth inning home run by former Diamondback Brandon Drury, rallied from an early 4-1 deficit to pull out a 5-4 victory in the series opener on Monday night. Mike Moustakas drove in the winning run with a broken-bat single in the sixth to snap a 5-for-52 slump. The Reds improved to just 10-22 on the road.
Drury’s homer was his team-leading 12th and third against Arizona this season. He is batting .413 for the month of June with four homers and seven RBIs.
“I feel like I’m just trusting myself right now,” Drury said. “Trusting the work I’ve been putting in in the cage. … I feel good.
Drury is just four off his career single-season high of 16 home runs set in 2016 with the Diamondbacks.
“I always felt like I had a lot of talent to be a great player in this game and I was just trying to figure it out,” Drury said. “I was going through a lot of stuff mechanically, mentally, whatever it is. And now I feel good and I am just looking forward to the rest of the season.”
Arizona manager Torey Lovullo felt his team, which was just 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position, blew several chances to put the Reds away in the opener.
“I’m pretty frustrated,” Lovullo said. “I felt like we let a couple situations get away from us. We are feeling pretty good about ourselves with a 4-1 lead and Merrill (Kelly) on the mound. I think there were a couple of mistakes that ended up getting hit. Obviously the three-run homer was the difference in the game.”
The Reds expect to get a boost on the injury front for Tuesday’s game. Jonathan India worked out with the team prior to Monday’s win and was later activated from the injured list.
India, who was 2-for-12 with two RBIs, three walks and four strikeouts in four rehab games at Triple-A Louisville, was placed on the 10-day injured list on May 1 with a right hamstring injury. He hit .269 with 21 homers and 69 RBIs in 2021 while winning National League Rookie of the Year.
–Field Level Media