Indians face Reds, aim to build on Civale's strong outing
Cincinnati Reds (15-16, fourth in the NL Central) vs. Cleveland Indians (18-14, second in the AL Central)
Cleveland; Sunday, 1:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Reds: Tyler Mahle (1-1, 2.94 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 41 strikeouts) Indians: Sam Hentges (1-0, 5.00 ERA, 1.78 WHIP, 8 strikeouts)
LINE: Indians +120, Reds -139; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Cleveland heads into the matchup after a strong showing by Aaron Civale. Civale went seven innings, giving up one run on five hits with five strikeouts against Cincinnati.
The Indians are 8-7 on their home turf. The Cleveland pitching staff averages 9.8 strikeouts per nine innings, Shane Bieber leads them with a mark of 14.3.
The Reds are 5-9 on the road. Cincinnati has a team on-base percentage of .317, good for third in the National League. Jesse Winker leads the team with a mark of .418.
The Indians won the last meeting 9-2. Aaron Civale recorded his fifth victory and Cesar Hernandez went 1-for-5 with a triple and three RBIs for Cleveland. Luis Castillo took his fourth loss for Cincinnati.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jose Ramirez leads the Indians with nine home runs and has 20 RBIs.
Nick Castellanos leads the Reds with 36 hits and has 21 RBIs.
LAST 10 GAMES: Indians: 7-3, .208 batting average, 3.54 ERA, outscored opponents by 10 runs
Reds: 6-4, .225 batting average, 5.24 ERA, outscored by 15 runs
INJURIES: Indians: Cam Hill: (right wrist), Roberto Perez: (finger).
Reds: Michael Lorenzen: (shoulder), Brandon Bailey: (elbow), Aristides Aquino: (hand), Joey Votto: (thumb).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.