Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs Series Preview

The Cincinnati Reds will wrap up August and enter September by traveling to Wrigley Field to play the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs are coming in red-hot after Jake Arrieta threw a no-hitter last night against the NL West leading Los Angeles Dodgers. The Cubs are in third place of the NL Central but still have a firm grasp on the second wild card spot. The Reds, on the other hand, are limping into Chicago after dropping eight of their last 10 games, solidifying their spot as the last place team in the NL Central, and are likely to be the first team eliminated this year.

Game 1
8/31 8:10 p.m. EST
CIN: Michael Lorenzen (3-8, 5.46)
CHC: Kyle Hendricks (6-6, 4.11)

Lorenzen is making his return to the Reds in game one and has been on fire in his time with the Triple-A Louisville Bats. (Read about it here.) Lorenzen is making his third start against the Cubs and has not pitched well in either of his first two outings. In his two starts, Lorenzen has pitched 9.1 innings, given up 12 hits and allowed nine runs to the Cubs. Addison Russell and Dexter Fowler have had the most success against Lorenzen, with Russell going 3-for-4, and Fowler going 3-for-5. The Cubs have hit a combined .364/.450/.667 off Lorenzen.

The Reds have hit fairly well off Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks, with a team batting average of .279, but Joey Votto has been the most dominant Red, going 2-for-4 with two home runs.

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Game 2
9/1 8:05 p.m. EST
CIN: Anthony DeSclafani (7-10, 3.84)
CHC: Dan Haren (8-9, 3.90)

DeSclafani is coming off of a great start against the Dodgers, where he went seven innings, only gave up one run and struck out six, but still got the loss. DeSclafani has pitched well in his three starts against the Cubs, holding the team to a .234 batting average and only giving up one long ball.

Haren has faced the Reds before, and has typically kept the Reds’ offense limited. He has allowed two home runs to Brandon Phillips (8-for-27), and one homer to Todd Frazier (4-for-11).

Game 3
9/2 2:20 p.m. EST
CIN: Raisel Iglesias (3-6, 3.92)
CHC: Jason Hammel (7-6, 3.42)

Iglesias should really start using the moniker ‘hard-luck’ with the way his August has been going. Iglesias has been improving tremendously over the last month, pitching three quality starts in a row, with 23 strikeouts in his last 14 innings of work, but still can’t seem to win a game. Iglesias will be facing the Cubs for the second time this year, after he went 5 2/3 and allowed two runs against them in July.

The Reds will be facing Hammel for the third time this year, and will rely on Jay Bruce (3-for-11 with one home run), Phillips (5-for-14) and Frazier (2-for-7 with one home run).

Next: Predicting the Reds' September call-ups