Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers Series Preview

After dropping an exciting series to the San Francisco Giants in AT&T Park, the Cincinnati Reds will hit the road and travel to Miller Park to play the Milwaukee Brewers for a three game series. This will be the fifth and final time the Reds play the Brewers this season, and have split the series at two apiece but have a better overall record against Milwaukee this year, at eight games to six.

Game 1
9/18 8:10 p.m. EST
CIN: Brandon Finnegan (3-0, 2.67)
MIL: Zach Davies (1-1, 6.60)

Finnegan will be making his first start with the Reds, after having two successful bullpen outings against the St. Louis Cardinals. Finnegan has pitched 2 2/3 innings with the Reds in two appearances, collecting four strikeouts, giving up only one walk and allowing no runs. He has only faced two Brewers before, Scooter Gennett and Domingo Santana, and didn’t allow a hit or walk to either.

Davies will be making his fourth start this year for the Brewers and has accumulated a 1-1 record and a very high 6.60 ERA. Davies had a bad last start where he only went 3 2/3 innings and allowed six runs off six hits and five walks. He will be facing the Reds for the first time.

Game 2
9/19 7:10 p.m. EST
CIN: Josh Smith (0-2, 7.36)
MIL: Taylor Jungmann (9-6, 3.05)

Smith has not been off to a great start to his major league career, and will be making his fourth start for the Reds this year after being moved to the bullpen and making two appearances there. As a starter, Smith pitched 12 1/3 innings in three starts, and has yet to pitch past the 5th inning, earning an 0-2 record. In the bullpen, Smith had one good appearance where he pitched two innings and gave up no runs, and one poor outing where he pitched 1/3 inning and gave up two runs. In his first start against the Brewers, Smith allowed them to hit a very high .333/.538/.667 off him.

Jungmann will be starting against the Reds for the third time this year and has gone undefeated (2-0) against Cincinnati. The Reds have not hit well off of Jungmann, collecting only two extra-base hits in 41 at-bats. Brandon Phillips has had the most success against Jungmann, going 2-for-7 with a double and an RBI.

Game 3
9/20 2:10 p.m. EST
CIN: Anthony DeSclafani (9-10, 3.67)
MIL: Ariel Pena (1-0, 3.46)

It seems that the Reds really got the better of the deal of DeSclafani for Mat Latos now that the Los Angeles Dodgers DFA’d Latos yesterday. But DeSclafani is putting together a nice season for himself, and is clearly one of the stronger starters for the Reds. DeSclafani will be making his second start against the Brewers after winning his first matchup with them back in April, where he held the Milwaukee batters to an incredible .053 batting average, with Adam Lind being the only Brewer to get a hit off DeSclafani.

Pena will be starting for the Brewers and will be facing Cincinnati for the second time this year. He pitched three innings in relief against the Reds earlier this month and allowed two runs but still earned the win. Most Reds have not done well against Pena, but Ivan De Jesus has gone 1-for-2 with a double, making him the most successful Reds against Pena.