ARCHIVE May 2, 2026
May 2, 2026 · NL Cent

Cincinnati Reds vs Pittsburgh Pirates

May 2, 2026PNC ParkOvercast 43°F · 10 mph, Out To RF
AWAY
Cincinnati Reds
20-13
7
vs
HOME
Pittsburgh Pirates
18-16
17

Starting pitchers

AWAY · CIN
Jose Trevino
Jose Trevino
IP 2
HOME · PIT
Carmen Mlodzinski
Carmen Mlodzinski
IP 5.2

Lineups

AWAY · CIN
  1. 1 TJ Friedl CF
  2. 2 JJ Bleday LF
  3. 3 Elly De La Cruz SS
  4. 4 Sal Stewart 2B
  5. 5 Nathaniel Lowe DH
  6. 6 Spencer Steer 1B
  7. 7 Will Benson RF
  8. 8 Tyler Stephenson C
  9. 9 Ke'Bryan Hayes 3B
HOME · PIT
  1. 1 Oneil Cruz CF
  2. 2 Brandon Lowe 2B
  3. 3 Bryan Reynolds LF
  4. 4 Ryan O'Hearn RF
  5. 5 Nick Gonzales 3B
  6. 6 Marcell Ozuna DH
  7. 7 Spencer Horwitz 1B
  8. 8 Konnor Griffin SS
  9. 9 Henry Davis C

Box score

  123456789 R
CIN 210012010 7
PIT 550500020 17

Manager comparison

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

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

Recent form

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

Season series: 0-3 with CIN 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 · Cincinnati Reds
  • Manager lineup cost +0.09 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 4.40 vs actual lineup 4.31
  • Player execution +2.69 R/G Players exceeded the lineup's 4.31 projection by 2.69 (scored 7)
  • Game variance +2.60 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Benson HR from the 7-hole

HOME · Pittsburgh Pirates
  • Manager lineup cost +0.13 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 4.82 vs actual lineup 4.70
  • Player execution +12.30 R/G Players exceeded the lineup's 4.70 projection by 12.30 (scored 17)
  • Game variance +12.18 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Griffin 4-for-5 from the 8-hole

COUNTERFACTUAL

Optimal lineups projected 4.4 – 4.8 — actual was 7 – 17.

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.