Don’t get swept at home by the A’s, Reds

It’s a game thread! A thread...for the game!

The Cincinnati Reds are at risk of being swept at home by the Oakland Athletics. They were burned in the first two games of the series already, with Oakland smashing seven combined homers to put the Reds at risk of not just ending up with a losing season, but of once again finishing dead last in their already mediocre division.

Seriously, is there ever anything worth playing for in August around these parts?

Julian Aguiar will once again start for the Reds, and at least he’s done a pretty competent patchwork job for the rotation since his mid-August promotion. Oakland, meanwhile, will counter with right-hander J.T. Ginn, a pitcher we hope will prove to be the tonic for the moribund Cincinnati offense.

It’s an odd 5:10 PM ET start time, so plan accordingly in the roughly 20 minutes you have from the time I’m writing this to the time of first pitch.

Lineups below. Go Reds, or whatever.