Greg Reynolds, who has thrived at the Triple-A level, steps in to start for the injured Tony Cingrani Sunday for the Cincinnati Reds in the finale of a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Cingrani left his Tuesday start against Arizona with two outs in the fourth inning due to a lower back strain. He was placed on the disabled list ahead of today's contest.
Enter Reynolds, who is 12-3 with a 2.42 ERA for Triple-A Louisville. That includes a five-hit complete-game win Tuesday against Rochester. This will be the second tour of duty for the parent club for the right-hander. Reynolds allowed eight hits and five runs over five frames in his only appearance of 2013, a loss to the Giants on July 23.
Marco Estrada counters for the Brewers. The righty is 1-0 over his last three starts, although he's coming off a no-decision against the Cardinals on Monday when he surrendered eight hits and four runs in six frames. He's 1-3 in eight games (4 starts) lifetime against the Reds.
Cincinnati enters the day 2 1/2 games behind Pittsburgh and St. Louis for first place in the NL Central. Starting Monday, the Reds will play seven of their next 10 games against the Cardinals.
Sixth-inning home runs by Ryan Ludwick and Zack Cozart sent Cincinnati in front for good, and the Reds knocked four out of the park in all to take a 6-3 win last night.
Ludwick and Cozart were two of seven position players to record at least two hits for Cincinnati, which received seven-plus solid innings out of starter Bronson Arroyo in claiming its 13th win in 18 games.
Arroyo (13-9) struck out six without a walk and was charged with three runs on seven hits. J.J. Hoover and Aroldis Chapman finished off the outing with a scoreless inning of work, with the latter earning his 33rd save.
"It's nice just to be able to keep that ball rolling and feel we're on a nice winning streak," Arroyo said of bouncing back from Friday's loss.
Wily Peralta worked around seven hits to allow just one run over five innings, but John Axford (6-7) couldn't hold Milwaukee's 2-1 lead intact, serving up the homers to Ludwick and Cozart.
"It looked like his stuff was okay, but he just must not be locating," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said of Axford.
Khris Davis and Scooter Gennett each knocked in a run and Caleb Gindl hit a pinch-hit homer off Arroyo in the eighth for Milwaukee, which was coming off a 6-4 win in the opener of this series. Davis has a 10-game hitting streak.
The Reds won eight of the first 13 games with the Brewers in 2013, though the teams spilt a four-game series from Aug. 15-18 in Milwaukee.
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