Braxton Ashcraft Starts Sunday as Reds Turn to Chase Burns

braxton ashcraft is the name on the marquee, but Chase Burns is the arm the Cincinnati Reds are handing the ball to on Sunday in Pittsburgh. First pitch against the Pirates is set for 1:35 PM ET. The Reds need a cleaner outing after two short starts already strained the pitching plan in this series.

Burns Gets the Ball

Burns will start for Cincinnati as the Reds try to salvage a game against Pittsburgh. The Pirates have unloaded on the Reds in the first two games, and Brady Singer and Rhett Lowder were both crushed in short starts that left Cincinnati looking for a reset rather than another quick hook.

That puts the focus on Burns from the opening inning. The Reds want him finding the strike zone early and often, then building enough length to keep the game from turning into another bullpen day.

Reds Need Length

The need is simple: fewer innings from the starters have meant more work for the relief group, and Cincinnati has already paid that price in this series. Burns is being asked to do two things at once — settle the game and spare the bullpen — after the first two games went heavily in Pittsburgh’s favor.

Sunday’s matchup is a straight test of whether the Reds can get through the middle innings without losing control of the game again. If Burns can hold the Pirates down and stay deep enough into the outing, Cincinnati has a chance to change the tone of the series instead of simply surviving it.

Pittsburgh and Cincinnati

The game is set in Pittsburgh, where the Reds enter with the series slipping after the Pirates’ early surge. Lineups for both clubs are listed below, but the main question is already on the mound: whether Burns can give Cincinnati the kind of start the club has not gotten yet in this series.