Pre-Gamin’: Reds at Cubs (3:05 CT) – Lineups, Broadcast Info, Game Thread

The Cubs managed to squeak out a win last night, but that’s to be expected, because I was wearing my lucky shoes. And you may laugh, but those shoes are now 4-0 (the Cole Hamels complete game, the lone win in Brewers series, the extra-innings win on the one-day trip to D.C., and the late-game comeback last night).

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to wear them today, or even watch today’s game. I am officiating a friend’s wedding next weekend and today is the rehearsal ceremony/dinner, right at 3:45 CT. Sigh. I sure hope the Cubs pull through.

And I have good reason to believe they will! Even though they won’t have the shoes to back them up, Joe Maddon has loaded the lineup with righties against the *extreme* split Cody Reed. His wOBA is nearly 100 point worse against righties, and he’ll face 8 of them this afternoon. He’s also made only four starts this season, none of which lasted longer than 5.0 innings. He doesn’t strike many guys out, he walks plenty, and gives up a fair amount of hard contact. His big plus, however, is a really solid amount of ground balls, so watch out for those pesky double-plays today.

Meanwhile, the Cubs are sending Jon Lester and he’s actually been quite good for five consecutive starts. He’ll have to lead the game off against Billy Hamilton, who, you know is just dying to get on base to wreak havoc, but the Cubs have Javy Baez at second for lightening fast tags and Willson Contreras’ arm behind the plate for fire-emoji-inducing throws.

I still think the Cubs can manage to pull this one off today and drop their Magic Number down to, at least, 13. And FYI: the Brewers play the Pirates in Milwaukee at 6:10 CT. Let’s Go Cubs!

And here’s a random, old picture of Brett I found in our media folder titled “Brett is lame.” I thought you might enjoy that.

Game Info

Chicago Cubs (86-61) vs Cincinnati Reds (63-85) – Saturday, September 15th at 3:05 CT on CSNC, 670 The Score

Game Thread and Series Preview

Your game thread is down in the comments, so let’s have some good, clean (safe-for-work) fun today.

  • The Series Preview lives here.
  • The Lineup Post lives here.
  • Starting Pitchers

    Cubs: Jon Lester (L): 3.57 ERA, 4.53 FIP; 2.29 K/BB

    versus

    Reds: Cody Reed (R): 5.08 ERA, 4.92 FIP; 2.18 K/BB

    Cincinnati Reds Lineup:

    1. Billy Hamilton, CF
    2. Jose Peraza, SS
    3. Joey Votto, 1B
    4. Eugenio Suarez, 3B
    5. Phillip Ervin, LF
    6. Tucker Barnhart, C
    7. Dilson Herrera, 2B
    8. Brandon Dixon, RF
    9. Cody Reed, P

    Chicago Cubs Lineup:

    1. Albert Almora Jr., CF
    2. Kris Bryant, RF
    3. Javy Baez, 2B
    4. David Bote, 3B
    5. Addison Russell, SS
    6. Willson Contreras, C
    7. Victor Caratini, 1B
    8. Jon Lester, P
    9. Ian Happ, LF

    written by

    Michael Cerami began covering the Chicago Cubs for Bleacher Nation as a part-time contributor in 2015. One year later, he joined Bleacher Nation full-time, covering the Chicago Cubs and Major League Baseball. Today, Michael runs Bleacher Nation, contributing as a writer (Cubs, MLB) and an editor for all sections of the site, including the Chicago Bears, Bulls, and Blackhawks, as well as MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL. In 2019, Michael was the co-host of NBC Sports Chicago's Cubs Post-Game Show Outside the Ivy. You can find him on Twitter/X @Michael_Cerami

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