Final
Cubs-Reds Preview
Aug 26, 2010 - 6:19 PMVideo
Chicago (54-74) at Cincinnati (73-54), 7:10 p.m. EDT
The Cincinnati Reds saw in the final game of their road trip that no lead is insurmountable.
With that in mind, the NL Central-leading Reds look to increase their advantage in the division Friday night when they open a three-game series against a Chicago Cubs team that is trying to match a season high with its fourth straight win.
Cincinnati (73-54) continues to maintain its lead over St. Louis in the Central after returning home from a 6-3 road trip. The Reds avoided a sweep to San Francisco with a wild 12-11 victory in 12 innings Wednesday.
Cincinnati blew a nine-run lead, falling behind 11-10 in the eighth, but Paul Janish sent the game into extra innings with an RBI single in the ninth and Joey Votto hit a two-out, tiebreaking single in the 12th.
"For them to come back like that, it could have been difficult to recover," said Votto, who homered twice and finished with four hits and four RBIs. "Momentum plays a big role in a game like this."
The Reds play their next six at home, facing Milwaukee next week. They are 10-3 against the Cubs this season, winning four of six at Great American Ball Park.
Pitching continues to be a concern for the Reds, however, as opponents hit .301 while scoring 63 runs on the road trip. They allowed the Giants to score 38 runs in the three games.
Johnny Cueto (11-4, 3.62 ERA) takes the mound for Cincinnati after losing his last two starts while giving up 10 runs.
In his first start since serving a seven-game suspension for his role in a fight with St. Louis, Cueto lasted three innings and allowed five runs and five hits - four home runs - in an 8-5 loss at Los Angeles on Saturday.
"Because I missed one start, I was feeling weird in the first inning," Cueto said through a translator. "I was feeling too strong. That's why I was overthrowing, and I was missing my spots."
Cueto pitched five scoreless innings against the Cubs (54-74) on July 3, but he walked five and left after throwing 101 pitches in a 3-1 loss at Wrigley Field.
The right-hander is 2-5 with a 4.17 ERA against Chicago. Alfonso Soriano is 8 for 20 with three home runs off Cueto.
Soriano and the Cubs come into Cincinnati after sweeping a three-game series in Washington with a 4-0 win Wednesday. Interim manager Mike Quade took over before the series and is the first Cubs manager to win his first three games since Jim Riggleman started 4-0 in 1995.
"He's really doing a great job," pitcher Ryan Dempster said. "It's good for him he's getting a great opportunity to go out there and manage. I've always said we never quit. Sometimes we just haven't played as well as we want to. We're not going to quit for him and, more importantly, we're not going to quit for the entire team."
The Cubs outscored the Nationals 18-5 and were led by Soriano, who went 4 for 13 with two homers and six RBIs in the series.
Tom Gorzelanny (7-7, 3.70) will try to help the Cubs match their longest winning streak of the season. Chicago last won four straight May 16-19.
Gorzelanny gave up one run in seven innings of a 5-4 victory against Atlanta on Saturday to win for the first time in five starts.
The left-hander is 0-2 with a 2.79 ERA in three starts against the Reds this year, with the Cubs scoring two runs over his 19 1-3 innings.
Votto, who is hitting .455 with three homers and nine RBIs over the last five games, is 2 for 13 with six strikeouts lifetime against Gorzelanny.
- Reds 7, Cubs 1 - FINAL
CHICAGO CUBS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
B DeWitt 2b 4 0 1 0 0 1 0 .277
S Castro ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .311
M Byrd cf 4 0 2 0 0 2 0 .305
A Ramirez 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .243
X Nady 1b 4 1 2 0 0 1 1 .248
T Colvin rf 3 0 1 1 0 1 1 .256
A Soriano lf
Aug 27 9:26 PM - NL
AT CINCINNATI - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY JAY BRUCE (16) TO RIGHT CENTER WITH 1 OUT
IN THE 7TH OFF SCOTT MAINE.
CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 1, CINCINNATI 7
DUE UP FOR CINCINNATI: C VALAIKA (.500, 2-FOR-3, HR, RBI)
Cubs 1, Reds 7 Bot 7, 0 OutsAug 27 9:01 PM - NL
AT CINCINNATI - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY CHRIS VALAIKA (1) TO CENTER WITH 1 OUT IN
THE 5TH OFF TOM GORZELANNY.
CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 1, CINCINNATI 6
DUE UP FOR CINCINNATI: J VOTTO (.327, 1-FOR-2, RBI)
Cubs 1, Reds 6 Bot 5, 0 OutsAug 27 8:30 PM - NL
AT CINCINNATI - SCORING UPDATE
THREE-RUN HOME RUN BY JAY BRUCE (15) TO RIGHT CENTER WITH 1
OUT IN THE 5TH OFF TOM GORZELANNY SCORED PAUL JANISH AND
DREW STUBBS.
CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 1, CINCINNATI 5
DUE UP FOR CINCINNATI: C VALAIKA (.400, 1-FOR-2)
Cubs 1, Reds 5 Bot 5, 0 OutsAug 27 8:27 PM - NL
AT CINCINNATI - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY TYLER COLVIN SCORED XAVIER NADY
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, T COLVIN ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 1
CINCINNATI 2 TOP,4TH
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: A SORIANO (.261, 0-FOR-1)
Cubs 1, Reds 2 Top 4, 0 OutsAug 27 8:03 PM - NL
AT CINCINNATI - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY JAY BRUCE (14) TO RIGHT CENTER WITH 1 OUT
IN THE 3RD OFF TOM GORZELANNY.
CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 0, CINCINNATI 2
DUE UP FOR CINCINNATI: C VALAIKA (.500, 1-FOR-1)
Cubs 0, Reds 2 Bot 3, 0 OutsAug 27 7:52 PM - NL
AT CINCINNATI - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JOEY VOTTO SCORED CHRIS VALAIKA
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J VOTTO ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 0
CINCINNATI 1 BOTTOM,1ST
DUE UP FOR CINCINNATI: S ROLEN (.297, 19 HR, 73 RBI)
Cubs 0, Reds 1 Bot 1, 0 OutsAug 27 7:28 PM
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