Last July 4th, the Reds completed a three-game sweep of the Yankees in the Bronx. I was in attendance for that game; it was not fun! It was the first time Cincinnati managed a sweep of the Bombers since they began playing them in interleague play in 2003. Of course, it was not the only such sweep in history, as the Big Red Machine infamously swept the Yankees back in the 1976 Fall Classic. But I digress.

Tonight the Yankees will send who else but Max Fried to the bump in an attempt to avoid the same fate as last year’s group. Fried bounced back from a rocky first to complete six quality innings against Baltimore in a no-decision. His ERA is peeking back above 2.00 now, but he has frequently played the “stopper” role this year, having won seven starts after Yankee losses. Aaron Boone will once again turn to him in that spot following a frustrating extra-innings defeat.

The Reds tap former Royal Brady Singer to secure the sweep. The 28-year-old right-hander got off to a great start to his first season in the Queen City, but struggled to a 6.39 ERA in May. He’s managed to turn things back around in June though, and he’s coming off back-to-back quality starts against two quality opponents in St. Louis and Detroit. Singer has typically been close to a two-pitch pitcher with his sinker and slider doing most of the heavy lifting, but he added a cutter to his arsenal this season to address his poor results against left-handed hitters. He’s made good progress in that regard: lefties have a .730 OPS this year, a big decrease from .855 last season.

Paul Goldschmidt gets the night off for the Yankees ahead of their first off-day in over two weeks. Ben Rice stays in to play first after a home run and a few other good swings as the DH last night, with Giancarlo Stanton slotting into that DH spot. DJ LeMahieu, who came off the bench in the loss, starts at second base tonight.

How to watch

Location: Great American Ball Park — Cincinnati, OH

First pitch: 7:10 p.m. ET

TV broadcast: Amazon Prime Video, FanDuel Sports Network Ohio

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY) / WLW 700 (CIN)

Online stream: Amazon Prime Video, MLB.tv (out-of-market)