Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds preview, Friday 5/30, 1:20 CT

The Cubs open a three-game series against the visitors from Cincinnati.

Friday notes…

• THE FRIENDLY CONFINES: The Cubs are 18-10 as the home team this season, but 18-8 at Wrigley Field, a winning percentage of .692. They have finished only three seasons with a higher percentage at Wrigley: .727 in 1935 (56-21), .709 in 1933 (56-23) and .704 in 2016 (57-24). They were .688 in 1932 (53-24) and .679 in 2008 (55-26). (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• FRIDAY ON MY MIND: Since Aug. 8, 1988, when the Cubs turned on the lights at Wrigley Field, they have a higher winning percentage in Friday day games there, .555, than they do in all home night games, .534, or in day games at home on all other days, .520. In all Wrigley games, day or night, besides Friday afternoons, their percentage is .523. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• THE LONG BALL AND THE STEAL: The Cubs are 28-10, .737, when they have hit at least one home run. They are 22-10, .688, when they have stolen at least one base. They are 15-4, .789, when they have hit at least one home run AND stolen at least one base. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• WHAT A RELIEF!: In their last 13 games since May 14, the Cubs bullpen has posted an ERA of 0.96 (five earned runs in 46⅔ innings), the lowest mark in the majors in that span. During this stretch, the bullpen has allowed two runs in an outing just twice (accounting for four of the five total runs) and held opponents scoreless in nine of the 13 games.
• SEIYA SOON: Seiya Suzuki has a nine-game hitting streak in which he is batting .417/.500/.833 (15-for-36) with six doubles, three home runs, 12 RBI, six walks and nine runs scored. He leads MLB with 51 RBI and is tied for sixth in SLG (.569).

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Reds lineup:

Colin Rea, RHP vs. Andrew Abbott, LHP

This is a pitching rematch of the game last Saturday in Cincinnati.

Colin Rea struggled through five innings, allowing six runs, his worst start of the year. Andrew Abbott allowed the Cubs just one run in 5⅔ innings.

Let’s hope for a better result this afternoon.

Baseball Savant

Baseball Savant

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. You can find out if Marquee is available via a provider in your area here. It’s also on MLB Network (outside the Cubs and Reds market territories).

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 2025 Game Thread procedure will be identical to last year’s.

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.