Cincinnati Reds vs St. Louis Cardinals – June 5, 2026

After a day off on Thursday, the Cincinnati Reds are on the road tonight as they begin a 6-game road trip that starts with a 3-game series in St. Louis. They will face off against the 3rd place Cardinals in a battle among NL Central foes. First pitch tonight is scheduled for 8:15pm ET.

Starting Lineups

Starting Pitchers

Brady Singer

Two weeks ago the Cardinals were in Cincinnati and Brady Singer was the scheduled starter, but the game was rained out. The Reds opted to then skip him in the rotation and he didn’t pitch against St. Louis the next day. When he returned to the mound after 13 days between starts he allowed three runs and walked four batters in 5.0 innings in a loss to Atlanta. Cincinnati hasn’t won a start of his since April 25th. Since that start Singer has allowed 19 earned runs in 22.0 innings while giving up 11 home runs.

When it comes to the splits there’s only one area where Singer is doing well and that’s walks. Neither lefties or righties are drawing walks against him. Right-handed hitters have a solid average and they are hitting for a lot of power against him while making tons of contact. Left-handed hitters are making less contact but still plenty of it, but they are hitting like prime Ted Williams without as many walks when facing him.

Splits 

Pitch Usage 

Kyle Leahy

While Brady Singer missed facing the Cardinals when they were in Cincinnati, Kyle Leahy faced the Reds and he gave up five runs on seven hits and two walks in 5.0 innings. That start accounted for five of the eight earned runs he gave up in his five starts in May. It was also the only game in which he allowed a home run in May and he gave up two of them that day.

The splits for Leahy this season are huge. He’s been very good against righties, holding them to a .616 OPS. Left-handed hitters, though, are crushing him. They are hitting .350, drawing plenty of walks, making a lot of contact, and showing good power against him. Not shown below in his splits is that he’s been much better in St. Louis this season where his ERA is 3.28 (5.04 on the road) and his OPS against is just .740 (.872 on the road). He’s yet to give up a home run at home this season (8 on the road). He also isn’t striking anyone out at home, with just 14 strikeouts in 122 plate appearances at Busch Stadium in 2026.

Splits 

Pitch Usage

When and Where

• Game time: 8:15pm ET
• Where: Busch Stadium
• Watch: Reds MLB Channel, Reds.tv (in-market), MLB.tv (out of market).
• Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
• Forecast: 85°, partly cloudy, 0% chance of rain

News and Notes

Derek Johnson takes a leave of absence

The Reds pitching coach is stepping away from the team for an undetermined amount of time. There is no reason being given as to why he is taking a leave of absence.

Assistant Pitching Coach Matt Tracy, who has been with Cincinnati since 2023 will be the guy who makes the trips out to the mound to talk things over with pitchers during the game.

Division Standings