Espinal leads Reds against the Cubs following 4-hit game

Updated Jul. 31, 2024 4:00 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Chicago Cubs (51-58, fifth in the NL Central) vs. Cincinnati Reds (52-55, fourth in the NL Central)

Cincinnati; Wednesday, 7:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Cubs: Kyle Hendricks (2-9, 6.95 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, 56 strikeouts); Reds: Nick Lodolo (8-3, 3.45 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 94 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Reds -152, Cubs +128; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Cincinnati Reds take on the Chicago Cubs after Santiago Espinal had four hits on Tuesday in a 6-3 win over the Cubs.

Cincinnati has gone 27-28 at home and 52-55 overall. Reds hitters have a collective .394 slugging percentage to rank 10th in the NL.

Chicago is 51-58 overall and 24-33 in road games. The Cubs have the fourth-ranked team ERA in the NL at 3.79.

The teams square off Wednesday for the 10th time this season. The Reds are up 7-2 in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Elly De La Cruz has 21 doubles, seven triples and 18 home runs for the Reds. Espinal is 14-for-26 with three doubles, three home runs and six RBI over the past 10 games.

Ian Happ has 23 doubles, a triple, 16 home runs and 60 RBI while hitting .230 for the Cubs. Seiya Suzuki is 10-for-36 with two doubles and two home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Reds: 5-5, .220 batting average, 3.45 ERA, outscored opponents by six runs

Cubs: 4-6, .196 batting average, 3.58 ERA, outscored by eight runs

INJURIES: Reds: Graham Ashcraft: 60-Day IL (elbow), Austin Wynns: 10-Day IL (teres), Brent Suter: 15-Day IL (teres major), Nick Martini: 60-Day IL (thumb), Luke Maile: 10-Day IL (back), Emilio Pagan: 60-Day IL (lat), Christian Encarnacion-Strand: 60-Day IL (hand), Brandon Williamson: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Ian Gibaut: 60-Day IL (forearm), Tejay Antone: 60-Day IL (elbow), Matt McLain: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

Cubs: Tomas Nido: 10-Day IL (knee), Ben Brown: 60-Day IL (neck), Luke Little: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Hayden Wesneski: 15-Day IL (forearm), Jordan Wicks: 60-Day IL (oblique), Colten Brewer: 60-Day IL (hand), Keegan Thompson: 15-Day IL (rib), Yency Almonte: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Adbert Alzolay: 60-Day IL (forearm), Caleb Kilian: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.