Last night the Chicago Cubs picked up a walk-off win on a home run in the bottom of the 9th inning as they extended their winning streak to five and the Cincinnati Reds losing streak to four. Tonight the two get back on the field in game two of their 4-game series at Wrigley Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7:40pm ET.
Starting Lineups
Starting Pitchers
Andrew Abbott
It has been an up-and-down season thus far for Abbott and there’s been more downs than ups. The last time out, though, was an up. The lefty gave up two runs in 6.0 innings in a win over the Rockies. Despite an ERA of 7.43 in his last five starts, the Reds have won four of those five outings.
Teams aren’t sending many left-handed hitters out to face Abbott this season, but when they do get into the box against him this season they are finding a ton of success. They aren’t walking, but they are piling up hits all day long. Right-handed hitters are hitting for a quality average and they are walking nearly as often as they are striking out, and making a lot of contact along the way. They haven’t hit for too much power against him this season, though.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 125 | 19 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 17 | .264 | .344 | .409 |
| LHH | 33 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | .438 | .455 | .625 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-seam | Cutter | Curve | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 92.5 | 88.0 | 79.3 | 81.7 | 85.9 |
| Usage | 48% | 2% | 13% | 18% | 19% |
Jameson Taillon
Much like Abbott, the season has been up-and-down for Jameson Taillon. Things haven’t been quite as down for him, but he’s been inconsistent when it comes to his runs allowed. When he’s going well he’s gotten things done, but he’s also mixed in a few clunker-type starts this season with a few solid ones.
The platoon splits for Taillon this season are interesting. Neither group is hitting for any kind of average against him and both groups are hitting for a lot of power when they do actually get hits. The main difference is that left-handed hitters are drawing a lot of walks against him while right-handed hitters aren’t walking much at all.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 75 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 17 | .214 | .267 | .471 |
| LHH | 66 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 14 | .211 | .318 | .456 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-sm | 2-sm | Cutter | Curve | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 97.8 | 91.9 | 85.9 | 78.8 | 79.8 | 84.4 |
| Usage | 26% | 9% | 24% | 11% | 16% | 14% |
When and Where
- Game time: 7:40pm ET
- Where: Wrigley Field
- Watch: Reds MLB Channel, Reds.tv (in-market), MLB.tv (out of market).
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 53°. cloudy, 5% chance of rain
News and Notes
Caleb Ferguson to Triple-A on rehab
The Reds have moved left-handed reliever Caleb Ferguson up to Triple-A Louisville in his rehab assignment. He made two appearances with Double-A Chattanooga last week, throwing an inning in each outing.
Elly De La Cruz
After having three hits and a walk last night, as well as his being picked off at first base one of those times, De La Cruz finds himself at the #5 spot in MLB in WAR (Fangraphs version) and 2nd in the National League. He’s currently also ranked 7th in their version of Defensive Value.
Reds release Andrew Chafin from Triple-A
Cincinnati had to release a reliever from Triple-A with a 0.96 ERA because Chafin has an opt-out in his contract the the Reds decided not to call him up. We covered this more in depth earlier today if you wanted to check that out.
Division Standings
| Team | W | L | GB | Playoff Odds |
| Chicago | 23 | 12 | 0.0 | 84.5% |
| St. Louis | 21 | 14 | 2.0 | 29.0% |
| Cincinnati | 20 | 15 | 3.0 | 23.7% |
| Pittsburgh | 19 | 16 | 4.0 | 60.2% |
| Milwaukee | 18 | 16 | 4.5 | 39.6% |
| Playoff Odds via Fangraphs | ||||