With that drought over, Frazier will try to lead the Reds to another victory over their NL Central rivals Tuesday night and keep highly touted Cubs prospect Kyle Schwarber winless in his return to Cincinnati. Normally one of the most reliable pitchers the Cubs have, he ended up handing the Reds the game, giving up 2 runs off of 1 hit and 1 walk, losing the lead for the Cubs.
Advertisement
After being left out of the starting lineup Sunday, Frazier snapped a 15-game homerless streak with one of Cincinnati’s trio of two-out longballs in a 5-4 victory Monday.
Aroldis Chapman pitched the ninth – a day after he threw a career-high 44 pitches – and retired the side on 13 pitches for his 19th save in 20 chances, repeatedly topping 100 miles per hour on the ballpark’s radar gun.
The Chicago Cubs had been keeping the ball in the park, especially the starters.
During their four innings of work, they threw 65 pitches.
Lafayette native Clayton Richard is scheduled to make his first start since back on July 4. 424 with two homers and five RBIs over that stretch, and is 4-for-11 with a double and a homer versus Richard.
Schwarber started Friday’s game in Atlanta and went 3 for 4 with a double, but did commit two errors. The rookie is from nearby Middletown, Ohio, and played at Great American for the first time eight days earlier, winning the MVP award in the All-Star Futures Game. Cincinnati will start RHP Mike Leake in Game 1 and recall LHP Tony Cingrani from Triple-A Louisville for the second game.
Cubs: LHP Zac Rosscup flew to Double-A Tennessee on Monday to continue his rehab stint at a higher level.
The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 5-4 tonight, thanks in large part to clutch defense.
Reds: Raisel Iglesias (2-5) makes his second start since returning from a strained left oblique. He turned in a quality start and earned the win in his Cubs debut against Miami but was tagged for four runs in three innings of relief July 8 against St. Louis.
Heaney (4-0) won his fourth straight decision in his first month with the Angels, yielding five hits without a walk.
Coming into Monday’s game, Cubs pitchers owned a major-league-best 2.12 ERA in July, but Richard allowed three earned runs and four hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Advertisement
Grimm walked Frazier to bring up Bruce, who hit only the second homer allowed by the reliever this season. Despite solid results in two of three starts, Richard isn’t a fantasy option considering how rarely he’s able to miss bats.
