Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds preview, Tuesday 9/7, 6:40 CT

There’s a chance of storms today, although at this point it appears they’ll clear out by game time, so here’s the local radar for you to keep handy. Hopefully the storms will indeed pass and they’ll get the game in.

Tuesday notes...

• SCHWINDY CITY UPDATE: Frank Schwindel, last 23 games since August 12: .391/.440/.772 (36-for-92) with six doubles, a triple, nine home runs and 21 runs scored. Frank the Tank has hit in eight straight games and has four straight multi-hit games.
• IT HAPP-ENED: Ian Happ, last 22 games since August 13: .358/.395/.741 (29-for-81) with seven doubles, eight home runs and 14 runs scored. In that span he has raised his season OPS from .599 to .710. He’s also on a season-high seven-game hitting streak.
• WHAT A RELIEF: Adam Morgan, last 22 games since July 17: 2.08 ERA, 0.981 WHIP, 20 strikeouts in 17⅓ innings, .183 opponents BA, three holds, two saves.
• A TEAM EFFORT: Since the Cubs’ 12-game losing streak ended, they have the second-best record in the NL (12-6). Over that 18-game span they have scored 96 runs (5.33 per game) and hit 32 home runs. The team’s 181 home runs for the season overall rank fifth in the NL.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Reds lineup:

Adrian Sampson, RHP vs. Wade Miley, LHP

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

USA TODAY NETWORK

Adrian Sampson made his Cubs debut against the Reds August 18 in Cincinnati, and threw four solid innings, allowing just one run.

Since then he’s made four relief appearances covering 7⅓ innings and allowed just one earned run, with two walks, nine strikeouts and a .185 opponents BA. That’s really good!

Is Sampson another one of the late-20s Cubs to have figured things out? Well... maybe! Find out more tonight at Wrigley Field!

Statcast

Tonight will be Wade Miley’s fifth start against the Cubs in 2021. In the previous four: 2.74 ERA in 23 innings, with a 1.522 WHIP and nine walks and 15 strikeouts.

The caveat to that, of course, is that three of the previous four starts were against the pre-selloff Cubs. His one start against the current bunch was seven shutout innings August 16 in Cincinnati. That game was the last loss of the Cubs’ 12-game losing streak. Since that game the Cubs have the second-best record in the National League, 12-6, and have defeated the Reds three straight times.

So, your guess is as good as mine for tonight.

Statcast

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. 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.