The Pittsburgh Pirates (2-3) and the Cincinnati Reds (3-2) meet on Wednesday for a battle of NL Central opponents. The series is split after a 2-0 win by Cincinnati, then an 8-3 victory by Pittsburgh yesterday.
Paul Skenes takes the mound for Pittsburgh after not making it out of the first inning on Opening Day against the Mets. Skenes allowed four hits and five earned runs to go along with two walks and one strikeout over 37 pitches. The Pirates offense posted seven runs in the loss to the Mets, and since then, the Pirates have scored a total of 14 runs over the next four games.
For the Reds, Andrew Abbott gets the nod after 6.0 innings of work, seven hits allowed with no earned runs against Boston. Abbott earned a no-decision over 83 pitches of a 3-0 Red Sox win. The Reds’ offense has 14 runs scored through five games and scored three yesterday against Pittsburgh.
Lets dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game details & how to watch Pirates at Reds
- Date: Wednesday, April 1, 2026
- Time: 12:40PM EST
- Site: Great American Ballpark
- City: Cincinatti, OH
- Network/Streaming: MLB TV
Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.
Odds for the Pirates at the Reds
The latest odds as of Wednesday:
- Moneyline: Pittsburgh Pirates (-168), Cincinatti Reds (+139)
- Spread: Pirates -1.5 (+102), Reds +1.5 (-122)
- Total: 7.5
Probable starting pitchers for Pirates at Reds
- Wednesday’s pitching matchup (April 1): Paul Skenes vs. Andrew Abbott
- Pirates: Paul Skenes
Season Totals: 0.2 IP, 0-1, 67.50 ERA, 9.00 WHIP, 1 Ks, 2 BB
- Reds: Andrew Abbott
Season Totals: 6.0 IP, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 4 Ks, 1 BB
Who’s Hot? Who’s Not!
- The Reds’ Spencer Steer is hitting .077 with one hit over 13 at-bats
- The Reds’ Sal Stewart is hitting .563 with nine hits over 16 at-bats
- The Pirates’ Brandon Lowe has three home runs through five games and hitting .333
- The Pirates Marcell Ozuna is hitting .063 with one hit over 16 at-bats
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Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Brewers at Yankees
- The Pirates are 2-3 ATS this season
- The Reds are 3-2 ATS this season
- The Pirates are 3-2 to the Under this season
- The Reds are 3-2 to the Under this season
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
Expert picks & predictions for tonight’s game between the Reds and the Pirates
Rotoworld Bet Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Wednesday’s game between the Pirates and the Reds:
- Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Pirates on the Moneyline.
- Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Pirates at -1.5.
- Total: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the under on the Game Total of 7.5
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