Tonight at 7:05 p.m. ET, the Cincinnati Reds (32-37) and Pittsburgh Pirates (40-30) take the field at PNC Park for the second meeting of a three-game series live from Pittsburgh.
Cincinnati has dropped two of its last three games as it continues a six-match road trip while Pittsburgh seeks to win its second consecutive contest as it resumes a six-game homestand.
The Pirates toppled the Reds 7-6 on Tuesday in the series-opener.
This game can be live streamed for free here.
Pittsburgh scored seven runs in the fourth inning in Tuesday's win as Francisco Cervelli launched a three-run homer and Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run round-tripper. It was their fourth and ninth long balls of the year, respectively.
Jay Bruce notched his 12th homer of the year in the loss for Cincinnati and rides a six-game hitting streak into this contest.
Mike Leake (4-4, 4.01 ERA) toes the rubber for the Reds tonight while Pittsburgh counters with Gerrit Cole and he is 11-2 thus far on the campaign with a 1.78 ERA.
Leake, who is 2-0 with a 2.42 ERA in June, comes in off of a game in which he retired 13 straight batters against the Miami Marlins on Friday and ultimately finished with a two-hit shutout through seven innings in a 5-0 win.
Cole, who has won an MLB-best 15 games since last Sept. 7, is searching for his career-high 12th win of the season.
Pittsburgh's starter leads the league in wins, is second in ERA and is emerging as a National League Cy Young Award candidate. He's 0-1 against the Reds this season with a no-decision in a Pirates' loss.
Cole faces a Cincinnati lineup that has been paced by third baseman Todd Frazier, who ranks first in the NL in total bases (169), second in runs (51), third in homers (23) and slugging percentage (.631) and fourth in OPS (.987) and RBI (48).
Reds first baseman Joey Votto is fourth in the Senior Circuit with 54 walks and fifth with a .405 on-base percentage. Though he's struggled to get on base, center fielder Billy Hamilton (.226 batting average, .270 on-base percentage) leads the majors with 33 stolen bases.
Pittsburgh's lineup also boasts a player who has a knack for swiping bags as right fielder Gregory Polanco is tied for fourth in the NL with 17 stolen bases.
After a slow start to the season, McCutchen is hitting .292 with nine homers and 44 RBI. Leftfielder Starling Marte leads the club with 12 homers and 45 RBI. Closer Mark Melancon leads the MLB with 24 saves and his 11 saves in June are a Pirates franchise record.
In the NL Central standings, Pittsburgh sits in second place, six games behind division-leading St. Louis while Cincinnati is in fourth and 13.5 games behind the Cardinals.
Two NL Central rivals go head-to-head when the Reds and Pirates clash live tonight from PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
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