Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds preview, Sunday 7/2, 12:10 CT

It's real simple.

The Cubs have not been swept in Great American Ball Park in more than six years -- the last time was May 5-6-7, 2011, although they have been swept by the Reds at Wrigley Field three times since then, once in 2012 and twice in 2013.

I think you would agree with me that we'd like to keep those records intact.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Jay LF, Bryant 3B, Rizzo 1B, Zobrist RF, Contreras C, Happ CF, Russell SS, Baez 2B, Arrieta P

Ben Zobrist returns to the starting lineup today against the #Reds.

Game preview: https://t.co/WJM15R0IVz pic.twitter.com/11hpOWQYz1

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 2, 2017

Personally, in this lineup I'd have played Jon Jay in right field and Ben Zobrist in left, but maybe it'll work.

Reds lineup:

Hamilton CF, Cozart SS, Votto 1B, Duvall LF, Schebler RF, Suarez 3B, Gennett 2B, Mesoraco C, Adleman P

Jake Arrieta vs. Tim Adleman

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Jake Arrieta... I dunno, man. He has good starts and you think he's coming out of it and then he has a clunker like he did against the Nationals. He faced the Reds at GABP back on April 22 and he pitched... okay, I guess, six innings, eight hits, five runs (four earned). No walks in that one, that'd be encouraging if he could do that today.

Basically, he's got to be what we used to call the "stopper," the starter who could stop a losing streak, or things from getting worse. The Cubs really need that today.

Tim Adleman has had a couple of really good scoreless starts this year that make you think he's going to be a really good major-league pitcher. But his last four starts have resulted in a 5.14 ERA, he's gotten out of the fifth inning only once, and he's allowed seven home runs in 21 innings. Yikes.

He threw six credible innings against the Cubs April 21 at GABP, allowing two runs. The Cubs broke through and won that game against the Reds' bullpen. We'd take that today, I think.

Today's game is on WGN.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

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The 2017 Game Thread procedure will be the same as the one used during 2016. 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.

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Discuss amongst yourselves.