Photo: Redleg Nation Staff
The Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago Cubs have split the first two games of this series. This afternoon the two will close out the first half at Great American Ball Park. The winner will end the first half on a high note and also take a series victory. First pitch is schedule for 1:40pm ET.
Starting Lineups
Starting Pitchers
Andrew Abbott
After struggling in his first six starts this season, Abbott made an adjustment and in the 13 starts since he’s posted a 2.86 ERA in 72.1 innings. He has not allowed more than three earned runs in any of those starts after giving up more than three earned in three of his first six games. The lefty had eight strikeouts and gave up three runs in 6.0 innings against Philadelphia in his last start.
The splits on the year don’t tell the story of how players have performed against Abbott for much of the year. In his first six starts left-handed hitters hit .481/.500/.704 against him. Since then they’ve hit .212/.255/.329 against him. Right-handed hitters have also hit worse during that stretch than the numbers below, but it’s much closer to those totals.
Splits
SplitPAH2B3BHRBBKAVGOBPSLGRHH3166671123846.240.331.404LHH12231404735.277.311.420
Pitch Usage
4-seamCutterCurveSliderChangeVelo92.688.479.782.285.9Usage46%2%14%21%18%
Matthew Boyd
It’s been an up-and-down season for Matthew Boyd so far in 2026. He spent time on the injured list in April with a biceps strain. When he returned from that he pitched for two weeks before landing back on the injured list with a knee injury that cost him seven weeks before returning late in June. After struggling in his first start where he allowed six runs, he’s posted a 3.25 ERA in his other seven starts. The last time out he threw 6.0 shutout innings against Baltimore.
The splits for Boyd are still in the small sample size range but the splits are showing a huge difference. Left-handed hitters don’t face him often, but when they have this year they’ve done absolutely nothing at all and haven’t had an extra-base hit against him. Right-handed hitters are hitting for a high average and showing a good amount of power. They aren’t walking much when facing him.
Splits
SplitPAH2B3BHRBBKAVGOBPSLGRHH12533904831.287.344.470LHH437000413.179.256.179
Pitch Usage
4-seam2-seamCurveSliderChangeVelo92.891.773.483.579.3Usage50%1%9%14%27%
When and Where
Game time: 1:40pm ETWhere: Great American Ball ParkWatch: Reds MLB Channel, Reds.tv (in-market), MLB.tv (out of market).Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)Forecast: 82°, cloudy, 5% chance of rain
News and Notes
Chase Petty called up, Lodolo to the IL
Two roster moves today for the Reds. Chase Petty is called up from Triple-A to take over the spot on the pitching staff that was available after Nick Lodolo was placed on the 15-day injured list after exiting last night’s game with a blister issue. We got into a little more detail on that here if you’d like to check that out.
Day Two of the MLB Draft
Day one was completed yesterday and the Reds made five picks in the first four rounds. We wrote about those players here. Today they will complete rounds 5-20. Over at RedsMinorLeagues.com I will have that coverage all day long with things beginning around 11:30am and expected to last until about 7:30pm tonight.
The Futures Game
This game begins at 12:00pm ET so you may be realizing it after it begins, but catcher and top prospect Alfredo Duno is the lone Reds player in the game and he’s starting for the National League. If you want to tune in the game is available on NBC or Peacock.
Division Standings
TeamWLGBPlayoff OddsMilwaukee59360.098.9%Chicago53426.073.6%St. Louis50448.538.3%Pittsburgh494710.536.5%Cincinnati435115.51.5%Playoff Odds via Fangraphs
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