MLB Game Preview - Cincinnati at Pittsburgh

Sun Sep 29, 2019 3:05 PM EDT

The Pittsburgh Pirates and visiting Cincinnati Reds have something to decide Sunday at PNC Park in the season finale for both.

The teams can't move in the standings -- the Reds (74-87) and Pirates (69-92) are locked into the last two spots in the National League Central, respectively.

They can't affect what remains of the playoff chases.

But one of them will get to take a series win into the offseason.

The teams have split the first two games, which have been close. Pittsburgh won 6-5 Friday on Kevin Newman's two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning. Cincinnati won 4-2 Saturday in 12 innings.

The Reds, who had lost five straight before Saturday, also can make their record in Pittsburgh this year just a little less lopsided. They are 1-8 at PNC Park.

The Pirates can go out with a win after their four-game winning streak was snapped Saturday.

In the season finale, Cincinnati right-hander Tyler Mahle (2-12, 5.34 ERA) is scheduled to face Pittsburgh right-hander Trevor Williams (7-8, 5.52 ERA).

Trevor Bauer had been scheduled to start for the Reds on Saturday, but that was moved back a day because he got ill. Then during Saturday's game, he was scratched from Sunday's start, depriving him of a last chance to pitch this year.

Bauer finishes 11-13 with a 4.48 ERA in a career-high 213 innings between his time with Cleveland and Cincinnati.

Mahle hasn't won since May 31, going 0-6 in in 13 subsequent starts.

He is coming back to pitch after starting Wednesday, but he lasted just 2 1/3 innings that game, a 9-2 loss against Milwaukee, giving up eight runs, seven of them earned, and seven hits, including three homers, with three walks and one strikeout.

"He couldn't get it going, and that made it tough on him," Reds manager David Bell said of what everyone thought would be Mahle's last outing of the year. "He gave it everything he had, but just not his best night. He wasn't able to locate his fastball and didn't have enough to get them out."

Now Mahle gets another chance.

Mahle is 0-3 with a 4.16 ERA in five career starts against the Pirates. All five games were Reds losses.

Williams has struggled to find consistency this year. He has lost two straight starts after winning two in a row.

Since he came off the injured list June 19, he is 5-7 with a 6.91 ERA.

His last time out, Williams gave up two runs and three hits in five innings, with six strikeouts and two walks, Sunday in a 4-3 loss against Milwaukee that was Pittsburgh's ninth straight loss.

"We're fighting for each other in this clubhouse. We're fighting for each other to finish strong at the end of the year," Williams said then, just before the Pirates reeled off five straight wins before Saturday's loss.

Against Cincinnati, Williams is 5-1 with a 2.98 ERA in 11 career games, eight of them starts. This year, he is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA.

--Field Level Media