(Photo credit: Jim Cowsert-Imagn Images)

The Cincinnati Reds and Kansas City Royals will both be more than happy to flip the calendar to June after forgettable performances across the last month.

Ahead of the first contest of a three-game interleague set on Monday in Cincinnati, each side will be in search of a rare series victory.

The Reds went 10-17 in May but finished the month with a 6-4 win over the visiting Atlanta Braves on Sunday to snap a three-game losing streak. More than a third of the way through the regular season, Cincinnati sits in last place in the National League Central, six games behind the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers.

The pitching staff has been among the main issues across the first two months of the season, as the Reds own the second-worst ERA (4.71) in the National League, ahead of only the Colorado Rockies' 5.39.

An outlier in the group is 23-year-old Chase Burns (7-1, 1.96 ERA), who will make his 12th start of the year in the series opener on Monday. Burns went 4-0 with a 1.19 ERA in May and boasts the fifth-lowest ERA in the major leagues.

Last time out, Cincinnati's ace went 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out eight and walking a pair in a 7-2 road victory over the New York Mets.

'He's really good and he's getting better,' Reds manager Terry Francona said of Burns. 'That's exciting for us. He just looks, acts and feels like he belongs. You're seeing that in the way he carries himself. I think the guys did a good job with him this spring, and I think you're seeing some of the benefits of what we did.'

The second overall pick in the 2024 draft appeared in 13 games (eight starts) last year, going 0-3 with a 4.57 ERA. Burns will face Kansas City for the first time in his young big league career.

The Reds will begin the series without All-Star shortstop Elly De La Cruz, who exited Sunday's game with right hamstring tightness and will undergo an MRI on Monday.

The Royals, meanwhile, have lost six straight games after a pair of sweeps at the hands of the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers. Kansas City went 10-18 in May and is a half-game ahead of the Detroit Tigers for the worst record in the American League. Manager Matt Quatraro's club owns the lowest scoring offense in the majors with 221 runs.

Adding injury to insult, Kansas City's reigning All-Star third baseman Maikel Garcia missed Sunday's 6-3 loss to Texas with a right hamstring strain. Desperately needing an offensive jolt, Quatraro hopes Garcia can return soon.

'He's feeling better,' Quatraro said. 'We're not going to IL him right now. We're going to reevaluate him (on Monday), have him move around some, and see how he's doing.'

The Royals are moving rookie Luinder Avila (0-2, 5.06) into the starting rotation as the team begins its second of three straight series away from home. Avila made his first career start on April 4, yielding five runs on eight hits across three innings in a 5-2 home loss to Milwaukee. Since then, the 24-year-old right-hander has split time between Kansas City and Triple-A Omaha.

Avila, who made his major league debut in August of last season, will make his first career appearance against Cincinnati.

--Field Level Media