Cincinnati Reds (53-49, second in the NL Central) vs. Chicago Cubs (50-53, fourth in the NL Central)
Chicago; Thursday, 2:20 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Reds: Luis Castillo (4-10, 4.12 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 113 strikeouts) Cubs: Alec Mills (4-3, 4.55 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 47 strikeouts)
LINE: Cubs +104, Reds -122; over/under is even
BOTTOM LINE: Chicago and Cincinnati will square off on Thursday.
The Cubs are 31-20 in home games in 2020. The Chicago pitching staff averages 9 strikeouts per nine innings, Kyle Hendricks leads them with a mark of 6.7.
The Reds are 27-23 on the road. Cincinnati has a collective .250 this season, led by Jesse Winker with an average of .304.
The Reds won the last meeting 8-2. Tyler Mahle earned his eighth victory and Joey Votto went 2-for-3 with two home runs and three RBIs for Cincinnati. Zach Davies registered his seventh loss for Chicago.
TOP PERFORMERS: Kris Bryant ranks second on the Cubs with 18 home runs and is batting .267.
Winker leads the Reds with 47 extra base hits and is batting .304.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cubs: 4-6, .229 batting average, 4.69 ERA, outscored by nine runs
Reds: 5-5, .276 batting average, 5.72 ERA, outscored by 11 runs
INJURIES: Cubs: Brad Wieck: (heart), Rowan Wick: (oblique), Kohl Stewart: (elbow), Jonathan Holder: (shoulder), Jake Arrieta: (hamstring), Javier Baez: (heel), Austin Romine: (left wrist), Jose Lobaton: (shoulder), P.J. Higgins: (forearm).
Reds: Art Warren: (oblique), Lucas Sims: (elbow), Michael Lorenzen: (hamstring), Michael Feliz: (elbow), Brandon Bailey: (elbow), Tejay Antone: (forearm), R.J. Alaniz: (calf), Nick Senzel: (knee), Nick Castellanos: (wrist), Mike Moustakas: (heel), Alex Blandino: (hand).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
