Reds go on a winning streak against Tigers

One step forward followed by one or two steps back has been a trend for the Cincinnati Reds this season, and they hope to stop that tendency when they host the Detroit Tigers in a three-game series starting Friday.

The Reds return home fresh from a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees, finishing their road trip with a 5-2 record. The triumph in the Bronx was preceded by a tie with division rivals St. Louis Cardinals. Cincinnati won the first and third games of this series, defeating the Cardinals 20-8, but kept a clean sheet in the second and fourth games.

“We responded pretty well after the series against St. Louis,” catcher Luke Maile said. “We should have taken more, that’s how it felt. … We had every reason to turn around. I think the fact that we’ve won three in a row against (the Yankees) says a lot. That’s kind of the first stumbling block for us.”

In three of their four series before the away trip, the Reds started with a win before losing the last two games.

The current three-game winning streak is the Reds’ longest since they won seven in a row from June 2-8. Cincinnati will look to build on that in the next 10 games, all of which are against teams with a sub-.500 record (Detroit, the Colorado Rockies and the Miami Marlins), to close out the portion of the season before the All-Star break.

The Reds will return Carson Spiers (2-1, 3.13 ERA) on Friday; the rookie right-hander will face Detroit for the first time in his career.

The Tigers come to Cincinnati hoping to rebound after blowing an early 3-0 lead in a 12-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis on Thursday. The game was called off in the bottom of the seventh inning due to heavy rain.

Detroit has lost six of its last eight games and is 8 1/2 games out of the final wild-card spot in the American League.

The series against the Reds ends Detroit’s 10-game road trip. Opposing stadiums have not been kind to the Tigers, who are 20-26 as visitors. It has been a problem especially recently, as they have lost 10 of their last 13 road games.

Tigers first baseman/left fielder Mark Canha has struggled over the past two months. The 35-year-old veteran, who had a .278 batting average with a .922 on-base-plus-slugging percentage through the end of April, has a .197 batting average with a .529 OPS since May 1.

“I’ve been through this before,” Canha said. “It’s not the first crisis I’ve been through, and it won’t be the last. Hopefully it won’t be the last.”

“It happens to the best of us. It’s not fun to go through it, but I still enjoy the process. I enjoy showing up every day and working on something. It’s a challenge and it’s a fun challenge.”

Reese Olson (2-8, 3.32 ERA) will be on the mound for the Tigers on Friday. The 24-year-old right-hander pitched one run with seven strikeouts in six innings in his only career appearance against Cincinnati, earning a win on September 14, 2023.

–Field level media