By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Having won four of their last five games — including the first two games of the series — the Philadelphia Phillies (5-5) and right-hander Nick Pivetta will take on the MLB-worst Cincinnati Reds (2-8) in Wednesday evening's series finale at Citizens Bank Park. Pivetta and Reds right-hander Luis Castillo will make their first career starts opposite the respective clubs.
The Phillies are coming off of a 6-1 victory over the Reds Tuesday evening, where starter Aaron Nola allowed just one run through eight strong innings and retired the last 10 batters he faced. Scott Kingery became the fastest player in Phillies history to hit their first career grand slam since Chase Utley in 2003. Reds starter Homer Bailey had a 1-0 lead and no-hitter going until one out in the sixth, when second baseman Cesar Hernandez singled to right during a five-pitch at-bat. Odubel Herrera tied the game at one with a RBI double to center, and J.P. Crawford produced the go-ahead run the following frame with a two-out RBI single — his second hit through 28 plate appearances this season. Kingery's eighth-inning slam solidified the third such Phillies home run over their last four games.
The Reds have the highest team ERA this season 6.04, which is over 1.5 times greater than the Phillies team ERA, 3.96. Reds pitching is tied for allowing the fourth-most home runs (15), whereas the Phillies staff is tied for allowing the fifth-fewest (7).
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Cincinnati Reds (2-8) | Philadelphia Phillies (5-5) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Luis Castillo | RHP | Nick Pivetta | ||
| (0-2, 9.00 ERA) | (1-0, 2.79 ERA) | ||||
RHP Luis Castillo, Age: 25
- Career vs. PHI: N/A
- Career at Citizens Bank Park: N/A
Castillo has been involved in four trades and appeared for three organizations since signing with the San Francisco Giants as an international free agent in December 2011. Through 17 starts and 99 1/3 innings in his career, the Bani, Dominican Republic native is 3-9 with a 3.71 ERA, 107-36 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 1.128 WHIP.
Suffering losing decisions in each of his two starts in 2018, tossing five innings in each, Castillo has surrendered 10 runs (all earned) on 12 hits and four walks. Castillo has struck out nine of his 46 batters faced, but has surrendered a combined pair of home runs and five doubles home against the Washington Nationals on March 31, and away against the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 6.
- Career vs. CIN: N/A
- Career at Citizens Bank Park: 5-3, 4.91 ERA, 13 G, 13 GS, 69 2/3 IP, 69 H, 40 R, 38 ER, 15 HR, 20 BB, 85 SO, 1.278 WHIP
Pivetta is coming off of a 5 2/3-inning shutout performance, home opener win on April 5 against the Miami Marlins, where he allowed just three singles and a double, along with no walks, while punching out nine. The right-hander received a no-decision in his season debut, away against the Atlanta Braves on March 30, allowing three runs through four frames.
The right-hander is tied with RHP Ben Lively for the second-most strikeouts on the Phillies thus far with 12. Only Nola has more strikeouts, 13, however Nola has thrown one start and 8 2/3 innings more than Pivetta.
Starting Lineups:
| Cincinnati Reds (2-8) | Philadelphia Phillies (5-5) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | LF | Jesse Winker | L | 1 | 2B | Cesar Hernandez | S |
| 2 | SS | Jose Peraza | R | 2 | LF | Scott Kingery | R |
| 3 | 1B | Joey Votto | L | 3 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L |
| 4 | 2B | Scooter Gennett | L | 4 | 1B | Carlos Santana | S |
| 5 | C | Devin Mesoraco | R | 5 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R |
| 6 | RF | Phillip Ervin | R | 6 | RF | Nick Williams | L |
| 7 | 3B | Phil Gosselin | R | 7 | C | Jorge Alfaro | R |
| 8 | P | Luis Castillo | R | 8 | P | Nick Pivetta | R |
| 9 | CF | Billy Hamilton | S | 9 | SS | J.P. Crawford | L |
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 7:05 p.m.
- TV: PHL 17
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
Game Notes:
- The Phillies have scored the third-most runs in the National League (NL) this season, 54, trailing only the Pirates (66) and Braves (63). The club is just one of four NL teams to have one or less home defeats, joining the New York Mets, Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs.
- Manager Gabe Kapler's squad ranks second among all teams in stolen bases with 11 and are on pace for 178. The club stole a Major League fifth-worst 59 bases all of last season (h/t Joe Giglio).
- With the Philadelphia Flyers and Philadelphia 76ers also playing Wednesday evening, the Phillies will be televised on PHL 17 instead of the usual NBC Sports Philadelphia or NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus. All three teams also played at the same time on April 3, however the Phillies game against the Mets was only streamed and not televised on a third station.
What's Next:
- Friday, April 13, 2018: at Tampa Bay Rays, 7:10 p.m.
- Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Fla.
- RHP Vince Velasquez (1-1, 5.19 ERA) vs. RHP Jake Faria (0-1, 14.29 ERA)
- TV: NBC 10; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
