Chicago Cubs look to bounce back in series against Cincinnati Reds

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On the tail of a series loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates over the weekend, Ricky Renteria and the Chicago Cubs (31-42) will look to bounce back with a matchup against the Cincinnati Reds (37-37), who enter play Monday 8 1/2 games back of the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central.

On the Reds’ side of things, the team’s offense has been red-hot of late, hitting a collective .284 over its last 13 ballgames and a big reason is the contributions of first baseman Joey Votto, who is hitting .319 since his return from the disabled list, with five doubles and 9 RBIs in those 12 contests.

An offensive stud for Chicago has been third baseman Luis Valbuena, who, since May 13, has a triple-slash of .330/.395/.527. He, combined with the strong performances of Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro, coupled with the return of catcher Welington Castillo, should give the Cubs some pop in the lineup throughout the series.

Here’s a brief look at the pitching matchups for each of the three games.

Game One: 7:05 p.m. CT – TV: WCIU, Radio: WGN AM 720

Ace Jeff Samardzija (2-6, 2.60 ERA) will toe the rubber in the series opener for the Cubs, looking to build on a strong start against the Marlins his last time out. June, as a whole, has not been kind to the right-hander, who is 1-2 with a 5.73 ERA this month.

Monday will mark Samardzija’s 16th start of the season and as the calendar approaches July, the length of time he will be in a Cubs uniform remains to be seen, although it seems likely he will be traded before the end of the month. The front office would, no doubt, love to see him revert to his early season form in the weeks to come.

He will be opposed by right-hander Alfredo Simon (10-3, 3.05 ERA) who has been lights-out for Bryan Price‘s club this season. In a start against the Cubs at the Great American Ballpark back on April 29, the righty tossed six innings, allowing two earned on five hits in a win.

Game Two: 7:05 p.m. CT – TV: CSN, Radio: WGN AM-720

Right-hander Jake Arrieta (3-1, 1.98 ERA) takes the ball for the Cubs in the second game of the series, looking to build on the best season of his career. The 28-year-old former Orioles prospect has been purely dominant for Chicago this year. In his last start, the righty allowed one run in seven innings of work and in the entire month of June, spanning four starts and 24 2/3 innings, Arrieta has allowed just two earned runs.

Veteran Homer Bailey (7-3, 4.68 ERA) will oppose him, looking to get on track after a rough start to the 2014 campaign. His 4.68 ERA would be the highest full-season mark of his big league career and more often than not, the right-hander has simply failed to miss bats, as opposing hitters have tallied 102 hits against Bailey in just 90 1/3 innings of work.

Game Three: 6:05 p.m. CT – TV: WGN, Radio, WGN-AM 720

Edwin Jackson (5-7, 5.12 ERA) will take the ball for the Cubs in the series finale on Wednesday night, looking to establish some consistency heading into the season’s second half. He is coming off a semi-decent start in which he allowed three earned runs in five innings of work, but has not recorded a quality start since May 17, when tossed seven scoreless against Milwaukee at Wrigley Field.

Right-hander Mat Latos (0-0, 3.86 ERA) will oppose Jackson, making just his third start of the season. Over the past three years, Latos has absolutely dominated the Cubs, going 4-0 with a 1.98 ERA in six starts against the North Siders. He will be looking to continue to find his groove after missing the first portion of the season.

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