Pittsburgh Pirates (55-54, third in the NL Central) vs. Cincinnati Reds (50-57, fifth in the NL Central)

Cincinnati; Thursday, 7:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Yohan Ramirez (6-3, 3.21 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 62 strikeouts); Reds: Rhett Lowder (3-7, 5.61 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, 65 strikeouts)

LINE: Pirates -116, Reds -106; over/under is 9 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Cincinnati Reds host the Pittsburgh Pirates to open a four-game series.

Cincinnati has a 50-57 record overall and a 23-30 record in home games. The Reds have a 21-12 record in games when they did not allow a home run.

Pittsburgh is 55-54 overall and 26-26 on the road. The Pirates have the third-ranked team slugging percentage in the NL at .420.

Thursday's game is the 10th time these teams match up this season. The Pirates are ahead 6-3 in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Sal Stewart leads the Reds with 22 home runs while slugging .472. Nathaniel Lowe is 12 for 37 with a double, three home runs and eight RBIs over the last 10 games.

Nick Gonzales leads the Pirates with a .315 batting average, and has 17 doubles, a triple, six home runs, 28 walks and 47 RBIs. Jake Mangum is 12 for 46 with two RBIs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Reds: 6-4, .211 batting average, 3.24 ERA, outscored by eight runs

Pirates: 4-6, .232 batting average, 4.12 ERA, outscored by 11 runs

INJURIES: Reds: Matt McLain: 10-Day IL (calf), Spencer Steer: 10-Day IL (wrist), Nick Lodolo: 15-Day IL (finger), Blake Dunn: 10-Day IL (elbow), Brandon Williamson: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Tony Santillan: 15-Day IL (oblique), Graham Ashcraft: 60-Day IL (forearm)

Pirates: Rafael Flores: 7-Day IL (head), Oneil Cruz: 60-Day IL (hand), Spencer Horwitz: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Evan Sisk: 15-Day IL (elbow), Konnor Griffin: 60-Day IL (finger), Chris Devenski: 60-Day IL (illness)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.