Chicago visits Cincinnati following Quintana's solid outing
Chicago Cubs (62-52, first in the NL Central) vs. Cincinnati Reds (54-58, fourth in the NL Central)
Cincinnati; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cubs: Cole Hamels (6-3, 2.84 ERA) Reds: Alex Wood (1-0, 3.18 ERA)
LINE: Cubs favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 9 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Chicago heads into the matchup fresh off a strong showing by Jose Quintana. Quintana went seven innings, giving up one run on two hits with seven strikeouts against Oakland.
The Reds are 24-28 against NL Central teams. The Cincinnati pitching staff as a whole has an ERA of 4.02. Luis Castillo leads the team with a 2.69 ERA.
The Cubs are 25-21 in division matchups. The Chicago pitching staff as a whole has an ERA of 4.02. Kyle Hendricks leads the team with a 3.06 earned run average.
TOP PERFORMERS: Eugenio Suarez leads the Reds with 72 RBIs and is batting .257. Tucker Barnhart is 9-for-26 with a double, three home runs and nine RBIs over the last 10 games for Cincinnati.
Javier Baez leads the Cubs with 78 RBIs and is batting .293. Nicholas Castellanos is 11-for-29 with six doubles, a home run and three RBIs over the last 10 games for Chicago.
LAST 10 GAMES: Reds: 7-3, .275 batting average, 4.37 ERA, outscored opponents by 10 runs
Cubs: 7-3, .274 batting average, 3.48 ERA, outscored opponents by 15 runs
Reds Injuries: Tyler Mahle: 10-day IL (hamstring), Derek Dietrich: 10-day IL (shoulder), Juan Graterol: 7-day IL (head), Curt Casali: 10-day IL (knee).
Cubs Injuries: Allen Webster: 60-day IL (hand), Brandon Morrow: 60-day IL (elbow), Brandon Kintzler: 10-day IL (pectoral), Craig Kimbrel: 10-day IL (knee), Kendall Graveman: 60-day IL (elbow), Xavier Cedeno: 60-day IL (wrist), Daniel Descalso: 10-day IL (ankle), Javier Baez: day-to-day (leg), Willson Contreras: 10-day IL (hamstring).
