Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds preview, Saturday 9/28, 1:20 CT

The Cubs go for two in a row over the visitors from Cincinnati.

Saturday notes…

• ONE DAY YES, ONE DAY NO: The Cubs have alternated wins and losses in their last nine games: win, loss, win at home vs. the Nationals; loss, win, loss at Philadelphia; and win at home vs. the Reds. They have had one longer such streak this season: 10 straight games, May 5-13, when they won at home vs. the Brewers, lost, won and lost at home vs. the Padres; won, lost and won at Pittsburgh; and lost Atlanta, where they lost again the next day. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• ATTENDANCE WATCH: The Cubs have announced 2,837,783 tickets sold through 79 dates. To get to 2.9 million for the season they would have to add 62,217 tickets sold for Saturday and Sunday, or 31,109 per date. It’ll be close but they will likely make it. The Cubs have not had 2.9 million in paid attendance since 2019, when they sold 3,094,865 tickets.
• THE NICO FILES: Nico Hoerner, last 19 games since Sept. 4: .409/.432/.578 (29-for-71) with six doubles, two home runs, seven RBI and 12 runs scored. He’s got three straight multi-hit games.
• JAMO: Jameson Taillon finished with the second-best year of his MLB career with 2.4 bWAR. For September: five starts, 0.84 ERA, 0.844 WHIP, a possibility he could be NL Pitcher of the Month.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Reds lineup:

Kyle Hendricks, RHP vs. Rhett Lowder, RHP

This is almost certainly Kyle Hendricks’ last appearance as a Cub, and it could be his last MLB start.

I’ll have more to say on this site about Kyle once a decision is reached about his future.

For now, let’s hope he ends his 2024 season on a high note. He has a 3.92 ERA and 1.403 WHIP with only one home run allowed in 20⅔ innings this month. That’s credible, and in two relief appearances and one start vs. the Reds this year, Kyle has a 2.89 ERA and 1.286 WHIP, with one home run in 9⅓ innings. That’s pretty good, let’s hope it continues today.

A note: If Kyle can throw six (or more) innings today without allowing an earned run, his 2024 season ERA would drop below 6.00 for the first time. So that’s something to aim for.

Rhett Lowder was the Reds’ No. 1 pick (seventh overall) last year out of Wake Forest, so he’s been on the fast track to the major leagues.

He made five starts at High-A Dayton, 16 at Double-A Chattanooga and one at Triple-A Louisville and posted a 4.31 ERA, with 113 strikeouts and just 24 walks in 108⅔ innings.

Then he was called up at the end of August and has made five starts for the Reds, in which he’s done very well — 1.40 ERA, 1.286 WHIP, no home runs in 25⅔ innings.

He’s obviously never faced the Cubs, though interestingly, Kevin Alcántara faced Lowder in a Double-A game on May 29 and singled in two at-bats.

Statcast

Statcast

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. You can find out if Marquee is available via a provider in your area here.

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Reds site Red Reporter. If you do go there to interact with Reds fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2024 Game Thread procedure will be like last year’s, similar to what we’ve used for Spring Training.

You’ll find the game preview posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game, including the First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread, as well as the recap when it’s published. The recap will also live on the front page as a separate post.

You will also be able to find the preview, First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread in the box marked “Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

The First Pitch thread will post at five minutes before game time, then an overflow thread at 90 minutes after the scheduled game time.

Discuss amongst yourselves.