Reds vs. Indians: Pitching preview, prediction, and more

The Reds look to rebound as their battle for the Ohio Cup begins.

Newspaper editor and author Horace Greeley is credited with coining the 1850’s phrase “Go West, young man.”  A 21st-century edition of the famous quote, as far as the Cincinnati Reds are concerned, should be “Never go West, young man.”

It was yet another unsuccessful trek to the Pacific Time Zone as the Reds (7-5) dropped 2-of-3 games to both the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Francisco Giants. Cincinnati left the Queen City atop the National League Central, and they return, sharing the lead with the Milwaukee Brewers.

As they were leaving Great American Ball Park, the offense was denting the plate at a dizzying rate. Unfortunately, the bats did not travel well on their first road trip of the year, scoring just 18 runs over those six games.

The Reds were shutout twice in six those contests against the D-backs and Giants while only managing to score more than three runs twice. Outside of the Giants’ Kevin Gausman and Johnny Cueto, the Reds weren’t exactly facing household names on the mound, making the lack of offense all the more disheartening.

The Cleveland Indians visit Southwest Ohio as winners of six of their last eight games following a four-game split in Chicago with the White Sox. As play begins Friday, the Indians (7-5) find themselves just a half-game back of the Kansas City Royals in the American League Central.

As far as the intra-state rivalry is concerned, it honestly has not been much of one. Cleveland owns a lifetime 66-51 mark against Cincinnati, and they’ve been incredibly dominant over the last decade.  Since 2011, the Reds have captured the Ohio Cup outright just one time.