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Cincinnati Reds Friday, April 18, 2014 Alfredo Simon v. Jeff Samardzija
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New road trip, and this is the appetizer. The Reds go to Pittsburgh and Atlanta from here, so it's imperative that they start out on a high note against the Chubs.
This first matchup starts with the ace of the Cubs' staff against the guy who outside of Cueto, may be pitching better than anyone on the team in Alfredo Simon.
Jeff Samardzija gets the start for Chicago, fresh off of 3 quality starts to start the season, each of them going 7 innings. The Reds have traditionally roughed him up so far in his career, with a 4.92 ERA in 21 starts. That's more starts than he's had against any other team.
Simon gets the chance to make his 3rd start, after another stellar game last time out. He's never started at Wrigley field before, but has 6 innings (in 5 appearances) under his belt there.
The off day and Cueto's shutout mean that everyone is fresh in the bullpen. Let's go, day baseball! You're my favorite work distraction!