Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds preview, Saturday 10/1, 1:20 CT

Oct 1, 2022 - 4:30 PM

Saturday notes...

• ATTENDANCE WATCH: The Cubs have announced 2,555,495 tickets sold through 79 dates, an average of 32,348 per date. They must have 44,505 paid admissions announced today and tomorrow to reach 2.6 million, an average of 22,253 per date. They’ll probably cross the 2.6 million mark by 20,000 or so. The Cubs haven’t had an announced total attendance under 2.6 million since 1997.
• PLAYING WITH THE BIG GUYS: The Cubs are 36-29 since the All-Star break. That’s the fifth-best record in the National League in that span and the four teams better than that are all headed to the postseason (Dodgers, Braves, Cardinals, Mets). They’re also 13-4 since September 12, the best record in the NL in that span.
• SAVING THE DAY: Keegan Thompson became the 10th Cubs pitcher to record a save this season when he posted a save against the Phillies Thursday. That’s the second-most in a single season in franchise history. The franchise record is 12 pitchers with at least one save, set all the way back in... 2021.
• EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!: Ian Happ has 60 extra-base hits this year. He’s the third Cubs switch-hitter to reach 60 extra-base hits in a season and the first since Augie Galan had 64 in 1935, which is the franchise record for a switch-hitter

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Reds lineup:

Drew Smyly, LHP vs. Nick Lodolo, LHP

Drew Smyly returns after missing a couple of starts with shoulder fatigue.

Before that, he had put together eight really good outings: 2.23 ERA, 0.992 WHIP.

His last start against the Reds was in the Field of Dreams Game August 11, where he threw five shutout innings and allowed four hits, striking out nine.

Another one just like that would be a fine cap to his good season with the Cubs.

Nick Lodolo was Smyly’s opponent in the Field of Dreams Game and the Cubs got seven hits and four runs off him in 4⅔ innings.

Since then, Lodolo has pitched pretty well — 2.84 ERA, 0.847 WHIP in eight starts, with just 10 walks and 62 strikeouts in 50⅔ innings.

So, this game will be a challenge for Cubs hitters. Lodolo was the Reds’ No. 1 pick (seventh overall) out of TCU in 2019 and he’s starting to show why they made that pick.

Statcast

Statcast

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. Here’s a list of providers currently carrying Marquee.

If you are interested, Marquee is producing an alternate broadcast for today’s game that will focus on gaming information. It will be hosted by Danny Parkins, Matt Spiegel and Lance Brozdowski and will be available on Marquee Plus, a streaming channel available through the Marquee Sports Network app. More information here. You do have to be a cable/satellite subscriber to a service that carries Marquee and sign into the app with those credentials to access this broadcast.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Reds site Red Reporter. If you do go there to interact with Reds fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2022 Game Thread procedure will be like last years, similar to what we’ve used for Spring Training.

You’ll find the game preview posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game, including the First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread, as well as the recap when it’s published. The recap will also live on the front page as a separate post.

You will also be able to find the preview, First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread in the box marked “Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

The First Pitch thread will post at five minutes before game time, then an overflow thread at 90 minutes after the scheduled game time.

Discuss amongst yourselves.