Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds preview, Friday 7/10, 6:10 CT

Friday notes…

• SPLITTING ‘EM UP: By winning two of three at Baltimore, the Cubs evened their record in series for the season: 14 won, 14 lost and two split. They are 6-1-1 in their last eight. Last year, through 30 series, they were 18-9-3. They finished 31-19-3. They were 55-38 through 93 games a year ago. Today, they are 52-41. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• ONE-RUN GAMES: Yesterday’s loss was the Cubs’ first by one run in 27 games, since a 2-1 loss at home against the Giants on June 7. Between the losses, the Cubs had gone 18-8, including four wins by one run. For the season, they are 15-10 in one-run games. They finished at 25-19 last season, their first with a winning record since they were 26-25 in 2018. From 2019-24, they were a combined 123-142. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• OUTHITTING THE OPPONENT: The Cubs lost yesterday despite outhitting the Orioles, 9-3. They had won all 14 previous games in which they had made at least six more hits than they  gave up. They are 39-5 when they outhit opponents, 4-2 when they have the same number of hits and 9-34 when they have been outhit, including their 9-7 win on Wednesday, in which they made eight hits and gave up 14. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• TODAY IN CUBS HISTORY: The Cubs end a five-game losing streak and a 20-game stretch in which they went 5-15 by defeating the Pirates 6-5 at PNC Park. Anthony Rizzo went 4-for-5 and Albert Almora Jr. homered in the victory. It happened 10 years ago today, Sunday, July 10, 2016.

Cubs lineup:

Reds lineup:

Shōta Imanaga, LHP vs. Hunter Greene, RHP

Shōta Imanaga, last five starts: 3.00 ERA, 1.148 WHIP, 26 strikeouts in 27 innings, four home runs allowed.

That’s… pretty good!

On May 7 at Wrigley Field, Imanaga held the Reds to one run in six innings and struck out 10. That’d play tonight. The last time he pitched in Cincinnati was Sept. 19, 2025 and he allowed three home runs in five innings. But, that was during a second half in which Imanaga was likely not fully recovered from his hamstring injury. The previous year, June 9, 2024, Imanaga threw 6.2 innings and allowed two runs and only one home run.

Hopefully we get the 2024 version tonight.

Hunter Greene just returned from an injury that kept him out most of this year. He had bone chips removed from his right elbow. That’s never good for a pitcher.

His only start since returning was July 4 at GABP against the Orioles, and they lit him up for seven hits, four walks and eight runs in 3.2 innings. He threw 89 pitches and did top out at 99 miles per hour, but… maybe he isn’t quite ready yet?

Last year, Sept. 18, 2025, Greene threw a one-hit complete game shutout against the Cubs. Somehow I’m thinking he’s not quite that guy again… yet.

Here is the weather forecast for the area around Great American Ballpark.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network.

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 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.

You’ll find the game preview, like this one, 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.

The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.

You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

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