(Sports Network) - Josh Beckett hopes to reverse his luck against Cincinnati this afternoon when the Boston Red Sox play the rubber match of their three- game series with the Reds at Great American Ball Park.

Beckett faced the Reds twice as a member of the Florida Marlins and lost both outings, surrendering 11 runs and 12 hits in seven innings of those outings.

The 28-year-old righty, though, is 8-1 with a 3.59 ERA in his last nine interleague starts.

Beckett, who is 6-4 with a 4.22 ERA on the season, received no-decision on Tuesday against Baltimore, as he allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings.

Cincinnati will counter with 22-year-old righty Homer Bailey, who has lost both of his starts this season, while pitching to a 6.30 ERA. Bailey was hammered by the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday, yielding five runs and eight hits in just 3 2/3 frames.

He has never faced the Red Sox.

Boston won in dramatic fashion on Saturday, as Kevin Youkilis and Coco Crisp hit back-to- back home runs in the 10th inning, lifting the Red Sox to a 6-4 win.

Youkilis, who was born in Cincinnati and went to college in the Queen City, ended 3-for-5 with two RBI in his homecoming before a throng of friends and relatives.

The Red Sox collected their first-ever regular-season win in Cincinnati and have won three of their last four games overall. Mike Lowell added two hits and knocked in a run for the Red Sox, who hadn't played in Cincinnati since the 1975 World Series.

Jonathan Papelbon (3-2) notched the win for Boston, despite blowing his third save of the season by allowing a game-tying home run to Edwin Encarnacion with two outs in the ninth.

Adam Dunn and Brandon Phillips also homered for the Reds, who had a two-game winning streak stopped.

Mike Lincoln (0-2) allowed the extra-inning blasts over 1 1/3 relief innings in defeat for Cincinnati.

On the injury front, Boston could once again be without Manny Ramirez, who is nursing a sore hamstring.

The only other regular-season series between these clubs took place at Fenway Park from June 13-15, 2005. The Red Sox won all three games from Cincinnati and outscored the Reds by a 23-4 margin.