The Guardians and Reds will kick off a three-game series for the 2026 Ohio Cup on Monday night, with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET, exclusively on ESPN.
The Guardians (54-53, 2nd in the AL Central), locked in a four-team battle for their division, are mired in a five-game losing streak. Runs continue to be especially scarce for a club that owns one of baseball's weakest offenses (3.93 runs per game, .680 OPS). They enter the series in Cincinnati having suffered back-to-back shutout losses against the Rays on Saturday and Sunday.
Fortunately, reinforcements are already on the scene -- after over a month on the injured list due to a left hamate fracture, José Ramírez returned on July 22, although he's yet to quite get going again, going 3-for-16 in his first four games back.
Meanwhile, the Reds (49-55, 5th in the NL Central) are treading water as they prepare to potentially take major losses at the upcoming Trade Deadline. That said, with their 10th-inning 5-3 victory over the Cardinals on Sunday (via a rally kicked off by a slumping Sal Stewart's RBI single), they've won three consecutive series coming out of the All-Star break, all on the road.
The story around the Reds may currently revolve around the seven impending free agents on their roster (starter Brady Singer, relievers Caleb Ferguson, Brock Burke and Pierce Johnson, infielders Nathaniel Lowe and Eugenio Suárez and catcher Tyler Stephenson), but unlikely to be going anywhere is star shortstop Elly De La Cruz, who's gathered back some momentum after a right hamstring strain earlier in the season. With his 2-for-5 (HR, RBI) performance on Sunday, he's currently slashing .304/.402/.557 with five home runs in July.
To kick off the series, the Guardians will send Slade Cecconi (4-7, 4.60 ERA) to the mound to try to get back on track; after posting a 1.88 ERA in five June starts, he's allowed 15 runs (11 earned) on 22 hits in July (13 1/3 IP).
For the Reds, it'll be Chase Burns (12-1, 2,42 ERA) looking to keep his breakout season rolling. In his first outing after signing his new seven-year, $105 million deal, the 23-year-old threw five scoreless innings in Seattle on Tuesday.