Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds preview, Saturday 8/29, 1:20 CT

STREAKING THE WRONG WAY: The Cubs have lost three straight games for just the third time since their 42-25 surge began on June 11. The first time was Aug. 19-22. In both three-game skids, the losses were by a total of five runs: three, one and one in the first span; one, two and two in the current one. The Cubs have not dropped four in a row since the final four of their 10-game losing streak, May 23-26. They have played 80 games since then. (Courtesy BCB's JohnW53)

SATURDAY IN THE PARK: The Cubs are 11-11 on Saturdays. They finished last season 20-7. They are 6-6 on Saturdays at home. They were 9-5 a year ago. (Courtesy BCB's JohnW53)

NOT DIGGING THESE LONG BALLS: The four home runs surrendered by Cubs pitchers yesterday raised their season total to 202. At their current pace, they will end the season with 242, seven more than their team record of 235, set in 2021. There have been 14 seasons in which other teams served up 242, with a high of 305, by the Orioles in 2019. The second most were 270, by the Rockies the same year. Seven of the 14 highest totals came in 2019. The Orioles and White Sox gave up 242, both in 2017. (Courtesy BCB's JohnW53)

TODAY IN CUBS HISTORY: The Cubs trail the Pirates 6-3 going to the bottom of the eighth. Willson Contreras hits a two-run homer in that inning and Jorge Soler homers in the bottom of the ninth to send it to extras tied 6-6. The Pirates push a run across the plate in the top of the 13th, but RBI singles by Anthony Rizzo and Miguel Montero give the Cubs an 8-7 win . It happened 10 years ago today, Monday, Aug. 29, 2016 .

Kevin Gausman, RHP vs. Andrew Abbott, LHP

Kevin Gausman had an outstanding start in his last outing, Monday vs. the Diamondbacks. He was flipped with Shōta Imanaga in the rotation to give Imanaga an extra rest day, so Gausman is going on normal four days' rest.

He has not faced the Reds since 2024 so most current Reds have a pretty small sample size against him. The exception is Eugenio Suárez, who as you know just kills Cubs pitching. Against Gausman, Suárez is 8-for-26 (.308) with two home runs. Suárez also homered off Gausman in Game 5 of last year's ALCS .

Coming off a 2025 when he was an All-Star and finished eighth in Cy Young voting, hopes were high for Andrew Abbott's 2026 season.

He has not been as good. Five starts in August: 5.40 ERA, 1.482 WHIP. He did throw 5.2 shutout innings against the Cubs May 5 at Wrigley Field , but the Cubs got to him for four runs in four innings July 12 in Cincinnati .

Today's game is on Marquee Sports Network.

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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.