Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds preview, Friday 8/28, 6:10 CT

There’s a pretty good chance of storms in the Cincinnati area tonight, says this forecast.

Thus you will need to keep this handy:

Friday notes...

• ROAD WARRIORS: Ian Happ leads the club with a .436 road OBP, followed by David Bote (.412), Jason Heyward (.400) and Jason Kipnis (.400). Javier Báez paces the club with a 1.131 road OPS, followed by Bote (1.112), Heyward (1.040) and Kipnis (.900).
• TONY LIKES CINCY: Anthony Rizzo has reached base safely in each of his last 12 games at Great American Ball Park dating to June 23, 2018, with a .429 on-base percentage in that stretch (thanks in part to six walks and six hit by pitches). All told, his 28 home runs against the Reds are his most against one club (he has 27 against both Milwaukee and Pittsburgh).
• HOORAY FOR J-HEY: On Tuesday, Jason Heyward recorded his second triple of the season to go along with four doubles and two homers. He’s one of nine N.L. players with at least two doubles, two triples and two homers this season. The others: Jay Bruce, Jake Cronenworth, Garrett Hampson, Brandon Nimmo, Bryan Reynolds, Trevor Story, Trea Turner and Mike Yastrzemski.
• DON’T RUN ON WILLSON: Willson Contreras on Tuesday threw out his fourth baserunner attempting to steal (Jeimer Candelario at second base). Willson’s four caught stealings are tied for third-most in the majors surpassed only by Manny Pina and Christian Vazquez (five).

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Reds lineup:

Kyle Hendricks, RHP vs. Tyler Mahle, RHP

Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Hendricks threw a spectacular complete-game shutout in his first start this year and we’ve all been waiting for him to come close to that since. He’s been good, not great, in his five starts after that one. The best thing about Kyle’s season: four walks in 38 innings, a league-leading ratio of 0.9 walks per nine innings.

Kyle has made one start vs. the Reds this year, July 29 in Cincinnati. Don’t look at the link. Trust me. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Tyler Mahle has made three starts and a relief appearance this year. One of the starts was outstanding, six innings with one hit allowed vs. Cleveland August 4. He hasn’t thrown more than four innings in the other three appearances and has pitched just once since August 12.

One of those other starts was vs. the Cubs July 28 in Cincinnati. He threw four innings and allowed six hits and two runs in a game the Cubs eventually won 8-5.

Current Cubs are 27-for-106 (.255) against Mahle. Kyle Schwarber is 4-for-11 with a home run and three walks.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. Here is a list of providers currently carrying Marquee.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

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 2020 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, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week/Date) game threads.” It will contain every thread related to that particular game, including the First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads, as well as the recap when it’s published. The recap will also live on the front page as a separate post.

You will also be able to find the preview, First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads in the box marked “Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

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.