Kansas City Royals vs. Cincinnati Reds – June 3, 2026

After snatching victory from the jaws of defeat last night, the Cincinnati Reds (31-29) look to earn a series win over the Kansas City Royals (23-38) Wednesday night at Great American Ball Park. Chase Burns takes the mound for the Reds, while Stephen Kolek gets the ball for the Royals.

First pitch is at 7:10 PM EDT.

Lineups

Starting Pitchers

Stephen Kolek

Stephen Kolek has only been with Royals for about a month in 2026, but he had pitched in the big leagues for the Padres in 2025 and then Kansas City once being traded at the deadline. The 27-year-old right-hander made his season debut on May 5. He didn’t start his season very well, allowing eight runs in 10.2 innings over two starts, but made his case to stay in the rotation by allowing no runs on four hits against St. Louis and then pitching a complete game shutout against Seattle on May 23. In his last start against the Texas Rangers, he gave up four earned runs on six hits over five innings.

Kolek is not a high strikeout pitcher, but he also does not walk a lot of batters. At 5.0%, his BB% ranks in the top 94% in MLB. This means he’s pitching to contact, and his 48.4% GB% reflects that. This is actually down from a year ago, but his HardHit% is also down to 35.8% from a year ago when it was 47.5%. Kolek does have some interesting home and away splits. At Kauffman Stadium, he has a 1.80 ERA through 15.0 innings, while he has a 5.06 in 16.0 innings on the road. Now, that home ERA was helped by the complete game shutout against the Mariners, but five of the six walks and three of the four home runs allowed have come on the road.

Splits

Pitch Usage

Chase Burns

Burns was pushed back a couple days in the rotation due to illness, but he’s feeling better and back on the mound tonight. In Burns’ last start, he struck out eight over 5.1 innings at Citi Field, and is coming off a month of May where he allowed only four runs in 30.1 innings over five starts. His slider is still his signature pitch, with a whiff rate of 53.2% and having recorded 50 of his 72 strikeouts with it.

Burns struggles more against lefties, especially allowing walks to them. His on-base percentage against lefties (.319) is significantly higher than against right-handed hitters. Of the 20 walks he’s allowed this season, 18 of them have been to left-handed hitters. Six of the eight home runs he’s given up have also been to lefties.

Splits

Pitch Usage

Game Details:

• When: 7:10 PM EDT
• Where: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, OH
• TV: Reds MLB Channel, Reds.TV (in-market); MLB.tv (out-of-market)
• Radio: 700 WLW
• Forecast: 77 degrees, sunny, 0% chance of rain

News and Notes

Roster Moves

It’s been a daily occurrence lately, and today was no exception. The Reds optioned TJ Friedl to Triple-A today and called up Noelvi Marte, who has been scorching hot at the plate for Louisville.

National League Player of the Month

JJ Bleday has given the Reds some much-needed offense over the last month in an otherwise dismal showing from much of the lineup. He was rewarded for that performance today when MLB announced their monthly awards for May.

Rehab Update

If you missed it last night, Rhett Lowder made a rehab start last night for Triple-A Louisville and pitched very well. We have the updates and timeline on when you could see him back in the Reds rotation.

Division Standings