Reds look to sweep Rangers with Chase Burns on the mound
The Cincinnati Reds powered their means to victory on Friday in the sequence opener towards the Texas Rangers, with 2-run blasts by Spencer Steer and Tyler Stephenson fueling the 5-3 victory. On Saturday, it was beginning pitcher Rhett Lowder’s excellence paired with some well timed bucket brigade of singles that led to Cincinnati’s 2-0 win.
On Sunday, it will likely be Chase Burns with the probability to put his stamp on the first street sequence of the season for the Reds as they look to sweep apart the Rangers and transfer three video games over the .500 mark. Burns was his electrical self once more in his first begin of the season, fanning 7 in 5.0 IP whereas permitting nary a run and a lone hit in a 2-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, displaying zero ill-effects from his bullpen position down the stretch in 2025 and his considerably odd ‘de-load’ late in spring camp.
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Standing in Cincinnati’s means can be one other former #2 total decide in Texas Rangers starter Jack Leiter. Leiter, whose path to huge league success hasn’t been fairly as rocket-like as Burns, settled in as a stable mid-rotation contributor for the 2025 Rangers, however the stuff has all the time been there for him to lead a rotation. Still simply 25 years previous (for a couple of extra days), he checked out the a part of an ace in his first begin of the season, and the Reds could have their work reduce out for them at present towards the proper.
It’s one thing of an attention-grabbing matchup at present given yesterday’s between Rhett Lowder and Kumar Rocker. Lowder and Burns, in fact, had been each aces that got here out of Wake Forest’s elite pitching improvement program, whereas each Rocker and Leiter got here out of a Vanderbilt system that present Reds pitching coordinator Derek Johnson set in movement himself. All 4 are former Top 10 total picks, too, displaying simply how a lot elite arm expertise has been on show on this sequence up to now.
First pitch for Sunday’s matinee is ready for two:35 PM ET, as the Reds will head to Miami subsequent to proceed their first street journey of the 2026 season.
For no matter cause, Nate Lowe is again on the bench and Ke’Bryan Hayes is beginning at 3B once more. Here’s how the Reds will line up for this one: