Pittsburgh Pirates at Cincinnati Reds

CINCINNATI (Interstat) — The Pittsburgh Pirates, fresh off a blowout victory, will look to play spoiler when they open a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night at Great American Ball Park.

The Reds (80-76), who were officially eliminated from postseason contention over the weekend, have played well lately, winning five of their last six games. Their most recent victory was a 1-0 pitchers’ duel against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, highlighted by strong bullpen work from Nick Martinez and Tony Santillan.

Conversely, the Pirates (67-89) are concluding a difficult season but are coming off an 11-0 rout of the Athletics on Sunday. Jared Triolo and Joey Bart each went 4 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs in the win.

This series is the final meeting of the season between the National League Central rivals. Cincinnati holds a 6-4 advantage in the season series, which was last updated in August. The teams split a four-game set in Pittsburgh, with the Reds winning the final two games, including a 14-8 slugfest on Aug. 10.

According to Interstat, the Reds are projected to win the opener 6-3 and have a 58.4% probability of victory. Cincinnati is installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5, and the over/under is set at 8.5 runs.

Following this series, the Pirates will travel to face the Atlanta Braves, while the Reds will head to Milwaukee for their final series of the season against the Brewers.