The Cincinnati Reds turned to Chase Burns on Sunday in Pittsburgh, hoping the right-hander could steady a series that had already gone badly off the rails. First pitch was set for 1:35 PM ET as Cincinnati tried to salvage one game against the Pirates.
The Pirates had unloaded on the Reds in the first two games of the series, and Cincinnati starters Brady Singer and Rhett Lowder had been crushed in short outings. The assignment for Burns was straightforward: find the strike zone early and often, then last deep enough to give a battered bullpen a much-needed break. It was Game 34, and the Reds needed more than a stopgap if they were going to leave Pittsburgh with anything to show for the trip.
That is why Burns mattered on Sunday. Cincinnati was not asking him to win a pennant race in one start. It was asking him to interrupt a bad stretch, settle the game, and keep the bullpen from being forced into another long afternoon after the club had already been knocked around for two straight days. For a team that had seen its first two starters leave little room for optimism, even a clean early stretch from Burns would count as a relief.
The broader picture was simple enough. The Reds came into the finale trying to avoid being swept deeper into a series that had been dominated by Pittsburgh, and they did so with a pitcher whose job was as much about tone as innings. A short, sharp outing would help. Anything less would leave Cincinnati where the first two games had already put it — chasing damage instead of control.
For readers following the season, the game also fit into a larger moment for the Reds, who had already seen Burns featured in a previous start in Angels Vs Reds: Chase Burns, Cincinnati eye series-opening win Friday. On Sunday, though, the need was simpler and more immediate. Burns had to give Cincinnati a chance to stop the bleeding in Pittsburgh, and the club needed it now.