The Cincinnati Reds will look to build a new winning streak and capture their third straight series when they host the Seattle Mariners on Thursday afternoon in the rubber match of their three-game set.

The Reds lost 5-3 to the Mariners on Wednesday, ending their four-game winning streak.

The Mariners enter Thursday having won five of their last six games. They’ve also dominated the all-time series between the teams, leading Cincinnati 20-6.

The teams played a game that featured a controversial call in the eighth inning as plate umpire Chris Segal ruled batter’s interference on the Reds’ Austin Hays. That resulted in a strikeout and also wiped out a stolen base by Elly De La Cruz, who automatically was called out for the second out of the inning with Cincinnati trailing by two runs.

“Because of the situation of the game, you kind of go out there and you want to yell, and he gave me a good explanation,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “I kind of appreciated he didn’t (insult) me. He said, ‘I know it (stinks)’ because Elly was safe easily, but (Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh) had to alter his throw because (Hays’) body came across the plate.

“I went and looked at it. … It hurts in that part of the game, but I do respect the way (Segal) handled it.”

Cincinnati had scored three runs in the seventh inning and led off the eighth with a single by De La Cruz.

“That was a big play, no doubt, and that’s a play that doesn’t get called very often,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson, who caught for both of these teams in the 1990s, said of the interference play.

“I feel like it should get called more, but it really looked like it doesn’t need to have contact. It just needs to impede the throw, and it clearly did. A big turnaround for us.”

Raleigh went deep from both sides of the plate in Wednesday’s win. The two homers gave him 100 for his career and seven for the season.
Seattle originally was going to send right-hander Bryan Woo to the mound in the series finale, but he has been moved back to Friday’s game at the Toronto Blue Jays.

Instead, the Mariners are recalling right-hander Emerson Hancock (0-1, 81.00 ERA) from Triple-A Tacoma to make his second start of the season. Hancock was tagged for six runs on seven hits while recording just two outs in a 9-6 loss to the Detroit Tigers on March 31.

Hancock will make his first career appearance against Cincinnati.

Cincinnati will counter with right-hander Brady Singer (3-0, 3.18), who will make his fourth start of the season. Reds batters have produced 30 runs in his three starts, with Singer earning the win in all three outings.

Singer will make his sixth career start and seventh appearance against the Mariners. He is 1-2 with a 3.60 ERA in those outings.

–Field Level Media