Reds vs. Cubs, Game 3 - Preview and Lineups

Luis Castillo held up his end of the bargain yesterday, but the Reds offense completely disappeared despite a solid looking two innings to start the game.

So today the Reds will try to salvage a series win with the Cubs. It’s not necessarily a must win game... I’m not sure those exist in June. But it’s pretty damn important to start taking these series. The Reds are going to have some personnel decisions to make in the next month or so, and their place in the standings is going to help make some of them.

So yeah, they should try and beat Jon Lester today, don’tcha think?

Lester’s been solid as usual this season, with a 3.83 ERA and 117 ERA+, and his strikeout and walk rates are back to where you’d expect after they slipped a bit last season, though he is allowing nearly 10 hits per 9 innings this season. Still, you pretty much know what you’re going to get with Lester, and as a lefty, he’ll have a good matchup against a lot of the best Reds batters.

Lester’s not faced the Reds yet this season.

The Reds will turn to Anthony DeSclafani, who will look to finish up June with a solid start. He was roughed up by the Brewers his last time out, despite a dominant first two innings where he struck out literally everyone. The wheels came off in the third inning, however. It was the first start this month he’d allowed more than one run, so righting the ship today would be really nice.

DeSclafani faced the Cubs in Wrigley back on May 24th and got hit around, allowing four earned runs in only 3.2 IP. So, he’ll need to be better than that today.

Go Reds!

CIN Lineup

CHC Lineup