Reds look to continue dominance of AL Central against the Twins in Cincinnati

Can they keep the good times rolling?

Four times the Cincinnati Reds have faced off against an opponent from the American League Central in a series so far in this 2025 season.

Four times the Cincinnati Reds have won those series against their AL Central foes, with on-the-road wins against the Guardians in Cleveland and Tigers in Detroit their most recent accomplishments on the ledger. On Tuesday, the Reds will begin their quest to further mince the AL Central as they welcome the Minnesota Twins to Great American Ball Park.

The Reds are 8-5 in the month of June and have ridden their offense to much of that success with ace Hunter Greene on the shelf. They’re the owner of a collective .335 wOBA this month - good for 4th best in all of baseball - and they’ve got superstar Elly De La Cruz on one of the greatest heaters of his young career at the moment. Among the 185 qualified hitters so far in June, nobody has a better wOBA than Elly’s .527 mark, and he’s currently riding a streak of four straight games in which he’s socked a homer.

While the Reds have climbed back into the NL playoff chase by reaching 37-35 overall, the Twins have slipped to just a 5-9 record so far in June after their brilliant 18-8 run in the month of May. They’re getting some consistent, healthy production from superstar Byron Buxton so far this year (131 OPS+ in 231 PA), so Cincinnati’s pitchers will have to deal with that.

The Reds, though, will once again continue their sneaky ability to dodge opposing teams’ aces in this series, as Joe Ryan - Minnesota’s overall team leader in bWAR (2.4) - is not scheduled to start in this three-game set. Hopefully, that sets the stage for Cincinnati to keep right on rollin’ through their Midwestern peers and up closer to that final NL Wild Card spot.

Pitching Matchups

Tuesday, June 17th (7:10 PM ET): LHP Andrew Abbott vs. RHP David Festa

Wednesday, June 18th (7:10 PM ET): LHP Nick Lodolo vs. RHP Bailey Ober

Thursday, June 19th (12:40 PM ET): RHP Nick Martinez vs. RHP Chris Paddack

How to Watch

Each of the three games of the series will be broadcast on FanDuel Sports Network. You can watch FDSN in-market through cable packages, though it’s also available to be streamed in-market with no blackout restrictions even without a cable subscription. You can check the link in the above sidebar (which I’ve re-linked right here) for more information on how you can do just that.

Per usual, you can view these final two games from outside the Reds TV market by catching the FDSN stream through MLB.tv.