Today at 12:35 p.m. ET, the Cincinnati Reds (35-35) and Pittsburgh Pirates (34-37) closeout their three-game set live from PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The game can be live streamed here. Cincinnati fans can hear all of the action on WLW 700 while Pittsburgh fans can do the same on KDKA 93.7.
Cincinnati looks to complete the sweep and to win its fourth game overall while Pittsburgh hopes to salvage a game in the series and avoid its fourth straight defeat. The Reds notched a 6-5 victory over the Pirates on Tuesday then followed it up with an 11-4 triumph Wednesday.
Cincinnati enters play in third place in the National League Central, 6.5 games behind the first place Milwaukee Brewers while the Pirates sit in fourth place and eight games back.
Homer Bailey (7-3, 4.68 ERA) toes the rubber for the Reds while the Pirates counter with Jeff Locke, who is 0-1 with a 3.98 ERA.
After Wednesday's win, the Reds are back to .500 for the first time since April 24.
"Considering where we've been the first two months of the season, it's a place we had to get to in order to move forward and beyond it," manager Bryan Price told MLB.com.
Despite a tough loss, Pirates outfielder and rookie Gregory Polanco notched a fifth-inning single meaning he became the first Pirate to hit safely in each of his first eight MLB games. Still, the team wasn't happy coming out of a loss.
"Game got away from us early," manager Clint Hurdle said via MLB.com. "We weren't able to recover."
Reds outfielder Billy Hamilton is second in the National League with 28 stolen bases while third baseman Todd Frazier is hitting .273 while ranking tied for third in the NL with 16 homers and leading Cincinnati with 41 RBI.
Pirates outfielder and reigning NL MVP Andrew McCutchen is fourth in the NL with a .321 batting average and leads the Bucs with 11 homers while adding 41 RBI this season. McCutchen ranks first in the NL in walks (51), second in on-base percentage (.432), third in OPS (.978), fourth in total bases (143) and doubles (22, tied) and fifth in slugging percentage (.546).
Pittsburgh outfielder Starling Marte is riding a nine-game hitting streak into Thursday's matinee contest and his 17 steals have him tied for fourth in the NL.
The Reds look for a sweep while Pittsburgh tries to salvage a game in this series when they take the field at PNC Park this afternoon in Pittsburgh.
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