Cincinnati @ Chicago preview
Wrigley Field
Last Meeting ( Jul 4, 2010 ) Cincinnati 14, Chi. Cubs 3
No team in baseball has done a better job than the Cincinnati Reds of focusing on the immediate task at hand.
It’s one reason why Cincinnati has lost just one series in the past 6 ½ weeks.
More than ever, the Reds will need to stick to that mind-set when they open a three-game series in Chicago on Friday night against the listless Cubs.
Aside from a natural tendency to look past a team that it has dominated this season, looming on the horizon for Cincinnati is a showdown with the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Reds will host the Cardinals in a three-game set beginning Monday for supremacy in the National League Central.
Entering this weekend’s matchup with the Cubs, Cincinnati holds a microscopic half-game edge over St. Louis.
Cincinnati just took two of three games from the Pittsburgh Pirates, improving its record in its last 12 series to 10-1-1.
Veteran Bronson Arroyo (11-6) gets the start in tonight’s opener for the Reds, who have won seven of 10 meetings this season with Chicago, including five of the last six.
The NL leaders in batting average (.273) and runs scored (536), Cincinnati has flexed its considerable offensive muscle to beat down the Cubs, scoring at least 12 runs in three of the last six meetings.
Not that Arroyo has needed much held help against the division rivals.
The 33-year-old right-hander is 4-0 in his last five starts vs. Chicago and has won his last three outings at Wrigley Field. That includes Cincinnati’s 12-0 rout of the Cubs on July 2, when Arroyo tossed six innings of two-hit shutout ball.
Left-hander Tom Gorzelanny (6-5) gets the call for the Cubs, who snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 15-3 drubbing of the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday.
Following a demotion to the bullpen earlier in the season, Gorzelanny was re-inserted into the starting rotation at the end of June and went unbeaten in July, posting a 4-0 record with a no-decision in five starts.
The 28-year-old southpaw has pitched well in two starts against Cincinnati this season – with nothing to show for it. In those two outings, which spanned 12 1/3 innings, Gorzelanny allowed four runs – three earned – while striking out 16.
The Cubs could certainly use a quality start after their pitching staff was raked for 67 runs during the seven-game spiral.
The offense came alive in the series finale against the Brewers, sparked by rookie shortstop Starlin Castro and catcher Geovany Soto. Castro had a career-high four hits and Soto had three hits, including a three-run homer, and five RBIs.
Castro is riding a five-game hitting streak that lifted his average to .318 with eight hits in his last 13 at-bats.