Two of the bright young stars of the National League are scheduled to go head-to-head for the first time when Chase Burns and the Cincinnati Reds open a three-game road series against Bryce Eldridge and the San Francisco Giants on Monday night.

The matchup pits clubs well out of contention in the National League playoff chase, with little but pride on the line over the final five weeks of the regular season. The Reds need 19 wins in their last 31 games to finish at .500 or better for a second straight year, while the Giants will attempt to muster up 11 wins in their last 32 outings to avoid a first 100-loss campaign since 1985.

Burns (14-2, 2.51) will try to get the Reds headed in a positive direction after they dropped two of three to the Diamondbacks as they began a nine-game road trip in Arizona.

The Reds have won 18 of his 24 starts, including a 5-4 victory at home against the St. Louis Cardinals in his most recent outing last Wednesday.

Having celebrated his 23rd birthday in January, Burns has won more games this season that any pitcher who has yet to turn 24. But teammates already feel an extra dose of adrenaline when he gets the ball.

"He sets the tone for us," first baseman Sal Stewart said after the win in Burns' most recent start. "His year has been incredible. I expect nothing less out of him. That's the standard I have for him, and he always meets it."

Burns got a hard-luck no-decision when he threw six shutout innings in a 3-0 home loss to the Giants on April 16. It was his only career outing against San Francisco.

The Reds took two of three in that series.

Left-hander Carson Whisenhunt (3-4, 7.03) is expected to start and make his first career appearance against the Reds on Monday.

Whisenhunt is coming off one of his worst outings of the season, an 8-1 road loss at the Cleveland Guardians last Tuesday. He has fared much better at home this season, going 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA, as opposed to 1-3 with a 10.34 ERA on the road.

The Giants limped home Sunday night after having dropped five of six on the road against American League playoff contenders Cleveland and the Boston Red Sox. San Francisco is 2-8 in the past nine games.

The last two losses of the Red Sox series were particularly painful, both in terms of a walk-off defeat on Saturday and injuries suffered by shortstop Willy Adames (left elbow) and outfielder Victor Bericoto (right knee) on Sunday. Both were scheduled for MRIs on Monday.

With or without those two starters, Giants manager Tony Vitello said Giants fans will see a group that hasn't given up on the season despite its non-contending record.

"Maybe do a couple things different, and you come out of here with a win," he said of the hard-fought series against the Red Sox in which the Giants were outscored just 14-10. "(We were) in a position all three games to do something."

Eldridge, 21, had hits in five of the six games on the trip. His home run last Tuesday in Cleveland gave him 14 for the season, the most in the NL for players under 22 this year. Only Baltimore's Samuel Basallo, with 16, has more.

--Field Level Media