ARCHIVE March 31, 2026
March 31, 2026 · NL Cent

Pittsburgh Pirates vs Cincinnati Reds

March 31, 2026Great American Ball ParkPartly Cloudy 78°F · 16 mph, R To L
AWAY
Pittsburgh Pirates
2-3
8
vs
HOME
Cincinnati Reds
3-2
3

Starting pitchers

AWAY · PIT
Bubba Chandler
Bubba Chandler
IP 4.1
HOME · CIN
Brandon Williamson
Brandon Williamson
IP 4.2

Lineups

AWAY · PIT
  1. 1 Jake Mangum RF
  2. 2 Ryan O'Hearn 1B
  3. 3 Bryan Reynolds LF
  4. 4 Marcell Ozuna DH
  5. 5 Brandon Lowe 2B
  6. 6 Nick Gonzales SS
  7. 7 Joey Bart C
  8. 8 Oneil Cruz CF
  9. 9 Nick Yorke 3B
HOME · CIN
  1. 1 TJ Friedl CF
  2. 2 Matt McLain 2B
  3. 3 Elly De La Cruz SS
  4. 4 Sal Stewart 1B
  5. 5 Eugenio Suárez DH
  6. 6 Will Benson LF
  7. 7 Noelvi Marte RF
  8. 8 Jose Trevino C
  9. 9 Ke'Bryan Hayes 3B

Box score

  123456789 R
PIT 050100002 8
CIN 001000020 3

Manager comparison

Both managers grade C- / B- entering this matchup.

AWAY · PIT
Don Kelly
C- Lineup 2.3 R Bunts 0.3 R IBBs 0.8 R
HOME · CIN
Terry Francona
B- Lineup 0.9 R Bunts 0.8 R IBBs 0.8 R

Recent form

AWAY · PIT
5-5 W2 +1 run diff
WWLWWWLLLL
HOME · CIN
1-9 L8 -46 run diff
LLLLLLLLWL

Season series: 3-0 with PIT listed first across 3 prior meetings.

Tactical analysis

RunsLeft separates manager decisions from player execution from game variance. Each card below is the same three-number framework that drives the share cards on the SPA replay page.

AWAY · Pittsburgh Pirates
  • Manager lineup cost +0.16 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 4.89 vs actual lineup 4.73
  • Player execution +3.27 R/G Players exceeded the lineup's 4.73 projection by 3.27 (scored 8)
  • Game variance +3.11 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Cruz HR from the 8-hole

HOME · Cincinnati Reds
  • Manager lineup cost +0.02 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 4.32 vs actual lineup 4.31
  • Player execution −1.30 R/G Players fell 1.30 short of the lineup's 4.31 projection (scored 3)
  • Game variance −1.32 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Friedl 0-for-3 batting 1st

COUNTERFACTUAL

Optimal lineups projected 4.9 – 4.3 — actual was 8 – 3.

Keep reading

How RunsLeft analyzes games

Standard content on this page comes from the MLB Stats API. Tactical analysis comes from a per-game Monte Carlo: 10,000 simulated games against the opposing starter's ERA, both for the actual lineup the manager wrote and for the optimal arrangement of those nine players. The three numbers — manager cost, player execution, game variance — separate which part of the result was the lineup, the players, or the dice.

Read the full methodology.