The Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds are playing live in the afternoon on the MLB schedule on Wednesday and the game is from Great American Ball Park for the NL Central matchup as Jake Arrieta and Dylan Axelrod pitch against each other and the game begins at 12:35 pm ET and has live coverage from MLB.com.
The Reds have been scuffling in the second half of the season, but they are showing signs of life now and they could pull back into the wild card chase if they keep playing well. The team basically played itself out of the mix and now they are trying to get back into that and the NL Central race after being close for most of the season. The Reds won just two of 14 games over a two week stretch and now they have won three of four and come into this game after a win over the Cubbies.
This is the series finale and the Cubs have brought up a number of young players this season and they are trying to make an impact in the bigs. The team has been getting some solid pitching from Arrieta, who is 7-4 on the year and has a 2.53 ERA, which is very impressive for this Cubs team. Anthony Rizzo is coming back and the team also had a big hit from Jorge Soler after he hit a home run in his first at-bat of his career, becoming the first player to do that for the Cubs since Starlin Castro did it. Rizzo has been fantastic recently over his last 10 games against the Reds, hitting over .350 with seven HRs, nine RBIs and 10 runs and he is looking to get back into the lineup.
Arietta has pitched against the Reds before this season, putting up a solid start with 9 Ks and seven innings and he only allowed two runs. Arietta was strong in his last start against the Orioles, going seven and allowing just one run on four hits and now the Cubs are trying to put together some solid baseball in the second half of the season.
The Cubs come into the game ranked near the bottom of the league in offense, but they have some great young talent on the way and the team is building with offense rather than pitching. The team has been solid overall from the pitching side, ranking ninth in BAA and 13th in WHIP and they also are in the middle of the pack in ERA. The team opens next with a series against the Cardinals on the road.
The Reds have a massive series against the Pirates next and they have been struggling hitting the ball and they are ranked near the bottom in the NL in most categories. The Reds are looking to keep their solid play going and they now will try and take down the Cubbies.
Check here for the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds live coverage from MLB.