Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds Game 2 preview, Friday 9/1, 5:40 CT

From BCB’s JohnW53, a fun doubleheader fact:

The Cubs have not swept a doubleheader on the road since August 13, 2008, when they won at Atlanta, 10-2 and 8-0.

Jim Edmonds and Geovany Soto both hit a two-run homer and a double in Game 1. Rich Harden and four relievers combined on a three-hitter in Game 2.

The Cubs had played 10 more doubleheaders on the road before today. They were swept in four and split six. In only two of the splits did they win Game 1: in 2014 at St. Louis (5-1 win, 13-2 loss) and in 2020 at Cincinnati (3-0 win, 6-5 walk-off loss). The 2020 games were seven innings.

The Cubs’ last doubleheader sweep at home was on May 4, 2021 vs. the Dodgers (7-1 in seven innings, 4-3 in nine). Since then, they have played eight more twin bills. They were swept in five and split three.

Here’s all the info you’ll need for today’s second game.

Cubs lineup:

Reds lineup:

Jose Cuas, RHP vs. Lyon Richardson, RHP

Just when everyone thought the Cubs would start Shane Greene in this game, the Cubs make it a bullpen game and name Jose Cuas the ... “starter”? “Opener”?

In any case, Cuas started one game earlier this year for Kansas City, June 22 vs. the Rays. It didn’t go too well, though the Royals won the game. He’s made 11 relief appearances for the Cubs and walked too many guys — 11 in 12 innings, though just one in his last two outings.

The June 22 game is the only time Cuas has started in his professional career.

His first appearance for the Cubs was August 2 against the Reds at Wrigley Field. He threw a scoreless inning, allowing a hit and a walk.

It seems likely that Greene might follow Cuas. “As always, we await developments.”

Lyon Richardson was the Reds’ second round pick in 2018 out of high school in Florida.

He made his MLB debut earlier this month and has made two starts for the Reds, allowing eight hits, six walks and seven runs in 7⅓ innings. Yikes.

However, in the Reds minor leagues this year he made 21 starts combined between High-A, Double-A and Triple-A (15 of the 21 at Double-A) and posted a 2.22 ERA and 1.154 WHIP, with 93 strikeouts in 65 innings. That’s really good! But... minor league hitters, etc. One of those games was August 17 vs. the Iowa Cubs — and Alexander Canario hit a two-run double off him.

As you can see from the chart, he throws hard. We’ll see if that works for him tonight.

Statcast

Statcast

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. You can find out if Marquee is available via a provider in your area here.

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 2023 Game Thread procedure will be like last year’s, similar to what we’ve used for Spring Training — also see the note at the top of this preview.

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 post related to that particular game, including the First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread, 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 the overflow thread 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 90 minutes after the scheduled game time.

Discuss amongst yourselves.