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With everyone available on the staff having pitched Tuesday night (except Pedro Strop, who played left field), the Cubs are certainly hoping Kyle Hendricks can go deep into this game.
Of course, the Reds are in a similar situation, having used five of their eight relievers, and two of the other three threw multiple innings Monday night.
So this one could be a quick one. Or not. Because baseball.
A couple more fun facts about Tuesday night's marathon:
The last time #Cubs had 3 Ps play the field at any point within the same season was 1904 (Mordecai Brown, Bob Wicker and Frank Corridon)
— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) June 29, 2016
BB historian Ed Hartig says going back to 1913, #Cubs never had 2 pitchers play the field in the same game, let alone 3 in same night
— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) June 29, 2016
Here are today's particulars.
Cubs lineup:
Zobrist RF, Bryant 3B, Rizzo 1B, Contreras C, Baez 2B, Szczur LF, Russell SS, Hendricks P, Almora CF
So what fun is in store for the series finale?
— #VoteCubs (@Cubs) June 29, 2016
Game preview: https://t.co/6Ai8s0kkfh #LetsGo pic.twitter.com/JdKBGthPYf
Reds lineup:
Hamilton CF, Votto 1B, Phillips 2B, Bruce RF, Duvall LF, Suarez 3B, Peraza SS, Barnhart C, Reed P
Kyle Hendricks
vs
Cody Reed
Kyle Hendricks has not thrown more than six innings in any of his last four starts, though he did give up only one hit in five innings in his last outing last Friday against the Marlins. Unfortunately, that was a grand slam following an error that helped prolong the inning. But Kyle has struck out 17 in his last 11 innings, so that's good. He has not faced the Reds this year and current Reds are a small-sample-size 10-for-44 (.227) against him with two home runs, both by Joey Votto.
Lefthander Cody Reed was one of three young pitchers the Reds acquired from the Royals for Johnny Cueto last year. He was KC's second-round choice in 2013, five picks after the Cubs chose Rob Zastryzny. He's the Reds' top pitching prospect and was an overall top-100 prospect in all of the major rankings prior to 2016. He is making his third major-league start after posting a 3.20 ERA and 1.175 WHIP in 11 starts at Triple-A Louisville. The previous two big-league starts have not been great (6.75 ERA, 1.667 WHIP) and he's already served up three home run balls in 12 innings, along with five walks.
Lick your chops, Cubs hitters.
Today's game is on WGN. For affiliate information in the Illinois/Indiana/Iowa Cubs TV market click here.
Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation Reds site Red Reporter. If you do go there to interact with Reds fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.
The 2016 Game Thread procedure will be the same as the one used at the end of 2015. Here's how it works.
You'll find the game preview posted separately on the front page, two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).
At the same time, a StoryStream™ containing the preview will also post on the front page. The First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads will be published in that stream, as well as the recap. The recap will also live on the front page as a separate post, and at the time I write the recap I will rename the stream "Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week) Game Threads" so you can go back and find every thread related to that particular game.
You will also be able to find the preview, First Pitch Thread, all the overflow threads and recap in the box marked "Chicago Cubs Game Threads" at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). They will also appear in the game's StoryStream™ as noted above.
The First Pitch thread will post at five minutes before game time, then an overflow thread at one hour, two hours and 2:45 after the scheduled game time.
Discuss amongst yourselves.