Maddon’s Cubs welcome reeling Reds to town
Jason Hammel has been virtually unhittable at Wrigley Field this year. He couldn’t ask for a more favorable opponent in his penultimate regular-season start there, either.
The veteran righty leads his Cubs into battle against the Reds tonight, with an 8:05 p.m. ET first pitch in the Windy City. Oddsmakers at online sports book Bovada.lv prefer the hosts, whereas Bryan Price’s troops represent +200 underdogs. The over/under run figure sits at 10.
Hammel (14-9, 3.60 ERA) permitted a pair of two-run homers in a 4-2 loss to the Cardinals last week. Of course, that setback occurred on the road. The South Carolina native holds a 9-1 mark with a 1.77 ERA in 13 appearances on the North Side. He’s also accustomed to keeping Cincinnati in check, having gone 3-1 in 11 career meetings with the franchise.
Meanwhile, Cincy’s eager to send Tim Adleman (2-4, 4.21) to the bump. The emerging fireballer boasts a solid 1.25 WHIP since being recalled from Triple-A Louisville on Aug. 16. He’ll face Chicago for the first time.
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The Cubbies just dropped three of four to the fourth-place Brewers, but nobody’s about to fault skipper Joe Maddon for resting various regulars at the moment. Most of the big guns should resurface vs. the Reds, who own a 1-4 record in the past five contests. Expect the titans of the NL Central to do their typical thing.
MONDAY MLB FREE PICK: CUBS -1.5