Reds hoping to revive offense against Dodgers, Buehler

A rare mid-week day game at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday could be marked with a rare look from the visiting Cincinnati Reds, who are trying to be proactive when it comes to getting their offense on track.

Joey Votto had just his second career start in the leadoff spot Tuesday against the Los Angeles Dodgers and could be back in the role Wednesday in the finale of a three-game series.

The Reds will enter Wednesday's game 28th in all of baseball in both runs scored (56) and on-base percentage (.281).

Votto is an on-base machine, having led the National League seven times in that department, including each of the past three seasons. So manager David Bell put his best on-base guy in a spot that could use a high OBP for a team in need of guys on base.

"If we have guys that can consistently get on base, we can score a lot of runs," Bell said. "It really is important to have guys at the top of the order that can get on base and not only hit their way on but be able to control the strike zone and have the ability to walk."

Votto, a left-handed hitter, did not play Monday when the Dodgers had left-hander Clayton Kershaw on the mound. His first game batting leadoff in 11 years came against Dodgers right-hander Kenta Maeda. Votto entered 2-for-5 against Maeda with two walks and a home run and added an RBI double in the third inning Tuesday.

Against Dodgers right-handed starter Walker Buehler, who is scheduled to be on the mound Wednesday Votto has a pair of singles in three at-bats.

Buehler (1-0, 8.25 ERA) has more than Votto to worry about. He is off to a rough start after an impressive rookie season in 2018 when he went 8-5 with a 2.62 ERA. With his plus fastball tending to run up and in to right-handed batters, he has been forced to put more of a reliance on secondary pitches.

In his last outing Thursday at St. Louis, Buehler managed to hit his first career home run, but the highlights pretty much ended there. He gave up five runs on five hits with two walks and lasted just four innings in an 11-7 defeat to the Cardinals.

"I'm just not putting myself in the right situations," Buehler said. "To get into certain counts, I'm doing stuff I don't want to do. I'm not commanding the fastball enough to be successful."

In his only career outing against the Reds, Buehler gave up two runs over six innings on May 10 of last year, taking the loss.

The Dodgers are hoping to get both Cody Bellinger (bruised right knee) and Justin Turner (bruised left ankle, tight right hamstring) back in the lineup Wednesday after both were out of action Tuesday.

Reds starter Sonny Gray (0-2, 2.03) wouldn't mind if both power-hitting run producers took another day to rest. Gray does not yet have a victory despite pitching well as he has been the victim of the anemic Reds offense.

Gray is coming off an outing Wednesday against the Miami Marlins where he lasted just four innings after getting hit by a comebacker in his left calf.

The right-hander, who is in his first season in the National League, has just one appearance against the Dodgers: a complete game three-hit shutout for the Oakland A's in 2015.

--Field Level Media

Home