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Reds-Cubs Preview

Jul 2, 2010 - 12:23 AM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer

Cincinnati (44-35) at Chicago (34-44), 2:20 p.m. EDT

The Cincinnati Reds opened their series at Wrigley Field with another win in their final at-bat. The Chicago Cubs would settle for runs at any point they can get them.

Cincinnati tries for a ninth win in 11 games Friday afternoon on Chicago's North Side, where the Cubs' lack of offense could leave them buried in the NL Central race by the time the first-place Reds leave town.

Cincinnati closed a six-game homestand with a victory in its last at-bat, getting Jay Bruce's eighth-inning, two-run shot to defeat Philadelphia 4-3 on Wednesday.

The Reds did it again Thursday, though this time they needed 10 innings. After blowing a 2-0 lead in the eighth, Drew Stubbs' RBI groundout in the 10th lifted Cincinnati to a 3-2 victory, giving it a ninth consecutive extra-inning road win dating to June 2009.

No NL team has done that since Atlanta in 1999-2000. Dusty Baker's club is a season-high 10 games above .500.

"There's no surprise there at all," Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee said of the team run by his former manager. "Dusty knows how to get the best out of his guys. He's proven that over the years."

The Cubs (34-45) could find themselves 13 1/2 games behind Cincinnati by Sunday afternoon if they don't start to play better quickly.

Chicago has dropped seven of 10 despite a 3.26 ERA. The club is hitting .215 in that stretch and .179 with runners in scoring position.

"We just don't seem to come up with the big hit when we need it," said manager Lou Piniella, whose team has scored the third-fewest runs in the NL. "It's been a recurring theme."

They'll try to get going against Bronson Arroyo (7-4, 4.49 ERA), but that won't be easy. Arroyo has gone 4-1 with a 2.77 ERA in his last six outings at Wrigley, and 2-0 with a 1.33 ERA in his past three starts overall versus Chicago.

Alfonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee are hitting a combined .218 (24 for 110) against Arroyo.

If there's a way to get to the right-hander, it might be via the home run. Arroyo has given up four homers in his last four starts, two by Cleveland's Shin-Soo Choo over five innings of the Reds' 5-3 loss Sunday.

The Cubs' Ryan Dempster (6-6, 3.58) is looking to win consecutive starts for the first time since Sept. 8-14. Dempster came into Sunday afternoon's game against the White Sox with a 4.83 ERA during the day, but held them to three runs over seven innings and struck out eight in an 8-6 win.

Dempster is 2-2 with a 2.81 ERA in five starts against the Reds since the Cubs made him a starter in 2008.

The worst of those came May 9 at Great American Ball Park. Joey Votto hit a three-run, seventh-inning homer off Dempster with Cincinnati down 3-2, lifting his team to a 5-3 victory.

Despite that home run, Dempster has typically silenced some of Cincinnati's big bats. Votto, Scott Rolen and Brandon Phillips are hitting a combined .177 (11 for 62) against him, though two of Votto's three hits left the park.

Votto, a .329 hitter at Wrigley, singled twice Thursday to extend his streak of reaching base to 39 games.