Apr 22, 2013; Cincinnati, OH, USA; The Reds celebrate on the field after they beat the Chicago Cubs in 13th innings at Great American Ball Park. The Reds won 5-4 on a walk-off single by Cesar Izturis. (David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports)

When you’re on a roll and you see the Chicago Cubs on your schedule, you can’t help but display a slight grin. Chicago heads into GABP in the NL Central cellar with a record of 18-28, 12 full games behind the first place St. Louis Cardinals.

Meanwhile, the Reds are tied for second with the Pittsburgh Pirates who both own a record of 29-18. That is a tie for baseball’s third best record. The Good Guys can’t let down their guard though. Got to take care of business against the Cubbies.

Game 1: Friday – Scott Feldman (4-3, 2.19) v. Bronson Arroyo (4-4, 3.28), 7:10 PM ET.

This will be Feldman’s first start against the Reds.

Only three Reds have ever faced Feldman (Jack Hannahan, Cesar Izturis and Shin-Soo Choo) and none have what you would call splendid results. Miserable might be the better choice of words. Of the three mentioned, the “best hitter” is Izturis…with an average of .182 (2-11) in 12 plate appearances.

Arroyo has the ability to confound the Cubs. He owns a lifetime 11-9 record (28 games with 26 starts) with an ERA of 2.99 and a WHIP of 1.148.

It should be of no surprise that Nate Schierholtz is the most successful Cubs hitter (10 PA minimum) when facing Bronson. He’s 3-for-10 (.300) with an RBI against him.

The other side of the coin? Hard to imagine that Alfonso Soriano struggles when facing Arroyo. In 56 plate appearances, he’s only batting .196 (10-51) with only 1 home run. Arroyo has struck out Soriano 15 times.

Game 2: Saturday – Travis Wood (4-2, 2.24) v. Homer Bailey (2-3, 3.09), 4:10 PM ET.

This will be the second time this season the Reds have a shot at their former teammate. Although the Reds won the last time they saw Wood, he did not get the decision as the Reds came from behind and eventually won a 5-4, 13-inning affair. A Cesar Izturis walk-off single ended that game.

Only one Red has 10 plate appearances against Wood: Zack Cozart. He’s 3-10 but has 5 whiffs. Of note is that Jay Bruce is 2-5 with both hits being home runs and Todd Frazier is 4-8, but in the last time they squared off, ToddFather was 0-3.

When facing Chicago, Bailey has exhibited success from a win-loss standpoint going 5-2, but his era is slightly over 5 at 5.02 and hid WHIP is a lofty 1.586.

And Homer doesn’t like to see Darwin Barney at the plate. Barney is 7-17 (.412) in 18 plate appearances. Soriano is a non-spectacular .227 (5-22 in 23 PA) when he faces Bailey.

Game 3: Sunday – Matt Garza (0-0, 0.00) v. Johnny Cueto (2-0, 3.02), 1:10 PM ET.

Both Garza and Cueto has occupied a spot on their respective team’s disabled list this season, but this is the most intriguing matchup of the three games.

When Garza faces the Reds, he is 1-2 with a 3.80 ERA and 1.479 WHIP, but the Reds haven’t faced Garza since 2011. That season accounts for all four of Garza’s outings against the Redlegs.

Garza has surrendered only 1 home run to the current crop of Reds: Jay Bruce. Joey Votto is only a .200 hitter against him (2-10). Brandon Phillips does well when facing the Cubs righty as he is 4-12 in 13 PA.

As for Cueto, he owns an 8-6, an ERA of 3.01 and WHIP of 1.211 when facing the Cubs. As much success as Barney as against Bailey, it’s quite opposite with the Reds ace. Cueto has a grasp on Barney as he has a career .154 batting average (2-13).

You could say Soriano has some good feelings when Cueto is throwing. He’s 11-40 with 4 HR and 6 RBI. The average may not blow you away (.275), but when he does hit Cueto, it has meaning.

All right. Series predictions?

May 5, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto (19) reacts after scoring against the Chicago Cubs during the fourth inning at Wrigley field. (David Banks-USA TODAY Sports)

The only thing that can make a 162-game season feel even longer is losing more baseball games than you win. In about the span of a week, the Reds dropped three of four to the Washington Nationals before flying into St. Louis and leaving two of three at Busch Stadium. English major math tells me that’s two wins in seven tries. My Texas Instrument displays a .286 winning percentage. If you weren’t actively following the Reds, Twitter might have had you believing the team was a few days short of a white-flag hoisting fire sale, where cornerstone guys like Jay Bruce are traded at the market for bus riders “prospects” and answers to questions not even being asked. Pitching all the sudden becomes expendable. Reds could trade Tony Cingrani for Giancarlo Stanton, or Mike Leake as part of a package. Or both.

But it’s normal for people to overreact when they’re feeling sick, no?  You can’t just not assume the worst initially. That’s stupid and naive. You want to build your hopes up for a clean bill of health before the doctor slaps you with a malignant malady, you be the rational naive one.

Too much WebMD-ing can actually be a bad thing. Type your symptoms in, press enter. Thanks. Turns out that fever you’re having is an early symptom of Guillain-Barré syndrome.  Now that you’ve determined what you have, you can stress relentlessly until your appointment. Shoot Jay Bruce a friendly message on Twitter in the meantime.

“We can’t win on the road,” I say as the doctor quickly checks my reflexes. “Mmm hmm,” he says dismissively as he continues to look the situation over. “It’s not just a trend, the offense sucked on the road all last year,” I nervously say. He continues to ponder and rub his chin before finally offering, “It’s just a losing streak,” in a hurried tone. He scribbles frivolously on a pad before tearing it from his booklet and handing it over, “Take three games with the Cubs, call me in the morning,” he says before disappearing.

We expect the Reds to beat the Cubs. And barring one game so far, they have. The Reds are 5-1 against the Cubbies this season after the  weekend sweep at Wrigley Field. Here are some factors that led to the Reds finishing the road trip at 5-5.

• Joey Votto is playing like a Most Valuable Player once more. I contest he’s never stopped, even if the fellas at ESPN think he needs to swing more. Votto hit .478 in the past seven days and only struck out three times. If Votto is entering Call of Duty Orbital V-SAT mode, baseball is going to feel it – that is, assuming he’s pitched to. His 29 walks still lead baseball, but his old pal Prince Fielder is rapidly catching up (24).
• This past week, Choo hit .280 and Phillips hit .333, each contributed three RBI. But outside of the three aforementioned Reds sluggers, the Reds are still struggling offensively on the road. Bruce and Frazier did combine for eight RBI together, but the last seven days witnessed Bruce hit .222, Frazier hit .200 and Cozart bat .136 (he chipped in three RBI too).
• Mat Latos picked up two wins last week. If it wasn’t for balmy fielding, he probably wouldn’t have allowed a run at all. He’s doing an exceptional job carrying the ace banner while Johnny Cueto continues to ride the DL pine. Speaking of the ace, Cincinnati.com reports that Cueto could be making a start at Double A for the Blue Wahoos. The Reds are not the same team without their Cy Young candidate, but rookie Tony Cingrani is comfort food for many. The rookie had another impressive outing in Chicago where he only surrendered two four runs off two hits by Soriano that happened to leave the yard.
• After an extremely turbulent start, J.J. Hoover has looked good of late. He picked up two saves last week, including one in which he had to bail Aroldis Chapman out of another Cuban Missile Crisis headline.

After a week that includes Atlanta and the Brewers, let’s hope next week’s round-up doesn’t include a WebMD tutorial.

Apr 29, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Mat Latos (55) throws to a St. Louis Cardinals batter during the first inning at Busch Stadium. (Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports)

Going for the sweep today. Game time is 2:20 PM ET.

Starting Pitchers

Reds – Mat Latos
2013: 2-0, 1.83 ERA, 1.093 WHIP (6 games/starts)
v. Cubs: 3-2, 2.58 ERA, 1.122 WHIP (6 games/starts)
@ Wrigley Field: 1-0, 2.57 ERA, 0.857 WHIP
Last appearance v. Cubs: 4/24/13 (W) – 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO

Latos v. Cubs Batters

With Latos, it’s been a win or no decision thus far in 2013. He’s 7th in the NL in ERA (1.83) and 9th in SO/BB ratio (4.625).

Cubs – Edwin Jackson
2013: 0-4, 6.27 ERA, 1.606 WHIP (6 games/starts)
v. Reds: 1-0, 2.57 ERA, 0.857 WHIP (3 games/starts)
@ Wrigley Field: 1-4, 8.73 ERA, 1.788 WHIP (6 games/starts)
Last appearance v. Reds: 5-13-12 (ND) – 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 SO

Jackson v. Reds Batters

For all the positives with Latos, the opposite holds true fro Jackson. Chicago signed EJax to a 4 year, $52M deal in the offseason. That can’t sit too well with Cubs fans either. Hard to believe he’s faced the Reds only three times in his 11 years in the league. Of course, he’s traveled around a bit on his days.

Starting Lineups

Notes
- As noted on The Hub, Ryan Hanigan is to do a rehab stint some time within the next week. He will undergo an exam on Monday. If all goes well, a schedule will be determined as to when and where.
- The Reds are only 8-for-16 in stolen base attempts. Contrast that with the Cubs who are 23-for-29.
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