Cincinnati Reds vs Chicago Cubs – May 7, 2026

This series, and much of the last week, has been a disaster for the Cincinnati Reds. Chicago has beaten them in the first three games of the series in walk-off fashion. Today the Cubs will look to complete a 4-game sweep at Wrigley Field. First pitch is scheduled for 2:20pm ET.

Starting Lineups

Starting Pitchers

Rhett Lowder

Coming off of the worst start of his career, one where he allowed eight runs in just 1.1 innings and matched a career worst with four walks, Lowder will be looking to get things going in the right direction against the Cubs this afternoon.

The platoon splits with Lowder favor left-handed hitters. While they hit for a lower average, they are walking a lot, making a bunch of contact, and while they aren’t hitting for much power it is more than righties are hitting for. Right-handed hitters are never walking against Lowder and this season most of their hits have been singles. The sample size is small, but in his four road starts his ERA is 6.27 and he has as many walks (10) as strikeouts in 18.2 innings.

Splits

SplitPAH2B3BHRBBKAVGOBPSLGRHH6216400212.267.290.333LHH91195111214.241.341.367

Pitch Usage

4-seam2-seamSliderChangeVelo93.592.885.086.7Usage22%32%25%21%

Shota Imanaga

In his seven starts this season, Imanaga has pitched into the 6th inning in all of them. He didn’t get an out in the 6th inning in either of the first two, but he’s completed the 6th inning four times and the 7th inning twice. In five of his seven starts he’s allowed zero or one earned run. In the other two he’s given up four earned run in each.

This season the platoon splits have favored left-handed hitters. Neither group is hitting for average with both below the .20 mark. Lefties are walking far more frequently, though, and have found more singles. They have also struck out significantly more often. Right-handed hitters are rarely walking and they make contact at a solid rate but they have not been able to turn that contact into much of any sort of offensive production thus far. For his 3-year MLB career, Imanaga has pitched better against lefties than righties (.602 OPS vs .662 OPS).

Splits

SplitPAH2B3BHRBBKAVGOBPSLGRHH10816612523.157.194.294LHH519301520.196.275.326

Pitch Usage

4-seam2-seamCurveSliderSplitVelo92.190.274.181.883.4Usage42%6%2%15%35%

When and Where

Game time: 2:20pm ETWhere: Wrigley FieldWatch: Reds MLB Channel, Reds.tv (in-market), MLB.tv (out of market).Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)Forecast: 57°, cloudy, 15% chance of rain

News and Notes

The Lineup

Elly De La Cruz is still in there but he’s not playing shortstop for the first time this season as he serves as the designated hitter. Blake Dunn is getting his first start of the year against a pitcher who eats right-handed hitters alive.

Will the streaking continue?

The Chicago Cubs have won 14 games in a row at Wrigley Field. They have won eight games in a row overall. And Cincinnati has lost six games in a row.

The National League/American League problem

It’s still May 7th, so this doesn’t mean much right now, but the National League Central division has three more teams with a winning record than the entire American League. You read that correctly. The American League has two teams with a winning record – the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays. Both the Guardians and Athletics are at the .500 mark. The other 11 teams are below .500.

Division Standings

TeamWLGBPlayoff OddsChicago25120.086.4%St. Louis21153.524.8%Milwaukee19165.043.9%Cincinnati20175.018.4%Pittsburgh20175.057.9%Playoff Odds via Fangraphs