Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds preview, Wednesday 7/17, 1:20 CT

The Cubs were utterly dominant over the Reds from 2015-18. Their 51-25 mark over the Reds in that time frame was by far their best against anyone in the N.L. Central, and they went 28-11 against them in Wrigley Field.

Thus this year’s 4-7 record against the Reds is somewhat of a surprise. Granted, the Reds are a better team this season, particularly their pitching staff. Still, the Cubs are the better team overall.

They can post their first series win of 2019 over the Reds with a victory this afternoon.

Notes:

• The win Tuesday night was the Cubs’ sixth walkoff win of 2019. The Dodgers lead the N.L. with eight. The Cubs also improved to 4-3 in extra inning games this season with the victory.
• Anthony Rizzo’s two hits extended his hitting streak to eight games, in which he’s hitting .483/.528/.724 (14-for-29). He has six multi-hit games during the streak.
• Kris Bryant’s home run Tuesday was his 19th of the season and his third in his last eight games, during which he’s hitting .414/.514/.862 (12-for-28).
• Brandon Kintzler has not allowed a run in 23 straight outings at Wrigley Field dating to last season, the second-longest streak in ballpark history, trailing only Felix Heredia’s 24-game stretch from August 28, 2000-July 29, 2001.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Reds lineup:

Yu Darvish, RHP vs. Sonny Gray, RHP

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Yu Darvish has been just excellent in his last two starts. He appears to finally have turned the corner and perhaps can go on a run of several good outings in a row.

He’s faced the Reds twice this year. One of those was against Sonny Gray, May 15 in Cincinnati. In that game, Darvish threw 5⅓ innings, allowed five hits and two runs, didn’t walk anyone and struck out 11. That’d work this afternoon. In that game Gray allowed three runs in five innings, including home runs by Addison Russell and Albert Almora Jr.

Gray also limited the Cubs to two runs in 6⅓ innings June 30 in Cincinnati.

This is a matchup between two pitchers who have struggled at times, but both seem to be on a roll. We could see a low-scoring game this afternoon.

Today’s game is on NBC Sports Chicago.

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 2019 Game Thread procedure will be the same as the one used in previous years. 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.