Cincinnati plays Milwaukee after Gray's solid performance

Milwaukee Brewers (46-41, first in the NL Central) vs. Cincinnati Reds (40-44, fifth in the NL Central)

Cincinnati; Thursday, 2 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Brewers: Brandon Woodruff (10-2, 3.79 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 120 strikeouts) Reds: Luis Castillo (7-3, 2.47 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 115 strikeouts)

LINE: Brewers favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Cincinnati heads into the matchup fresh off a dominant performance by Sonny Gray. Gray pitched eight innings, surrendering zero runs on four hits with 12 strikeouts against Milwaukee.

The Reds are 17-21 against opponents from the NL Central. The Cincinnati pitching staff as a whole has an ERA of 3.73. Luis Castillo leads the team with a 2.56 ERA.

The Brewers are 23-15 against the rest of their division. Milwaukee has hit 147 combined home runs this season, most in the National League. Christian Yelich leads them with 31 homers. The Reds won the last meeting 3-0. Sonny Gray secured his fifth victory and Yasiel Puig went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs for Cincinnati. Jhoulys Chacin registered his ninth loss for Milwaukee.

TOP PERFORMERS: Eugenio Suarez leads the Reds with 54 RBIs and is batting .254. Puig is 11-for-32 with a double, four home runs and seven RBIs over the last 10 games for Cincinnati.

Yelich leads the Brewers with 31 home runs and has 67 RBIs. Eric Thames is 10-for-27 with three doubles, a triple, three home runs and six RBIs over the last 10 games for Milwaukee.

LAST 10 GAMES: Reds: 4-6, .250 batting average, 4.81 ERA, outscored by 10 runs

Brewers: 5-5, .219 batting average, 3.38 ERA, outscored by three runs

Reds Injuries: Alex Wood: 60-day IL (back), Wandy Peralta: 10-day IL (hip), Scooter Gennett: day-to-day (groin), Tucker Barnhart: 10-day IL (oblique).

Brewers Injuries: Bobby Wahl: 60-day IL (knee), Brent Suter: 60-day IL (elbow), Jimmy Nelson: 10-day IL (elbow), Corey Knebel: 60-day IL (elbow), Gio Gonzalez: 10-day IL (arm).