Scouting report: Cubs vs. Reds

Posted May 14, 2019 5:30 am

By Bruce Miles

Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park

TV: NBC Sports Chicago Tuesday and Thursday; WGN Wednesday

Radio: WSCR 670-AM

Pitching matchups: The Cubs' Kyle Hendricks (2-4) vs. Tanner Roark (3-1) Tuesday; Yu Darvish (2-3) vs. Sonny Gray (0-4) Wednesday; Jose Quintana (4-2) vs. Luis Castillo (4-1) Thursday. All games 5:40 p.m.

At a glance: This is the first meeting of the NL Central rivals. The Cubs (24-14) lead the division while the Reds (18-23) are last. Of interest is that the Reds have a run differential of plus-30, giving them an "expected" won-lost record of 24-17. That's because the Reds entered Monday first in the NL in ERA (3.36). Castillo checks in at 1.76. Eugenio Suarez leads the Cincinnati offense at .288/.341/.565 with 12 homers and 26 RBI. Joey Votto is off to a slow start at .206/.325/.338 with 3 homers and 7 RBI. The Cubs' run differential of plus-54 was tops in the NL Monday. They led they league in on-base percentage and were second to the Reds in team ERA (3.44).

Next: Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, Friday-Sunday

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