Fans robbed of epic pitching duel as Pirates reveal probable starters vs. Reds

The Pittsburgh Pirates are back on the road this weekend for another National League Central showdown, this time against the Cincinnati Reds.

While the division rivals have identical 5-8 records to start the season and once again find themselves in the basement of the NL Central, both the Pirates and the Reds boast some of the most exciting young starting pitchers in baseball.

Unfortunately, however, fans will be robbed of an all-time pitching matchup between Paul Skenes and Hunter Greene, as Skenes last pitched Tuesday against the St. Louis Cardinals and is not scheduled to pitch again until next week. Greene may pitch later in the series for CIncinnati, likely in Sunday's series finale.

Fans robbed of epic pitching duel as Pirates reveal probable starters vs. Reds

Cincinnati's lineup will be fortunate to dodge the one-two punch of Skenes and Mitch Keller at the top of Pittsburgh's rotation in this series, as the Pirates are expected to roll out Bailey Falter, Andrew Heaney and Carmen Mlodzinski against the Reds.

Falter, still looking for his first win of the season, will take the hill Friday against right-hander Brady Singer. The southpaw had a strong first start in which he allowed just two earned runs over six innings with four strikeouts against the Miami Marlins, but the Pirates went on to lose the game in extra innings. Falter proceeded to struggle in his most recent start against the New York Yankees, allowing seven hits and two homers for seven earned runs in a 10-4 Pirates loss.

Left-hander Andrew Heaney will start for the Pirates on Saturday, likely against fellow southpaw Andrew Abbott. Heaney went five innings in his first start against the Marlins, allowing four hits, a walk and a run while striking out four. His second outing against the Yankees was a strong one – he struck out 10 and allowed just one run over seven innings before the Pirates' bullpen blew the lead in the ninth inning and forced the game to extras.

Mlodzinski, a converted reliever who is taking the place of the injured Jared Jones in the Pirates' rotation, got rocked for five hits and four earned runs in his first start against the Rays. He responded well in the series opener against the Cardinals and allowed just five hits, two walks and an earned run, while posting a career-high six strikeouts in five innings of work.

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