Cincinnati @ Chicago preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 9, 2012 ) Cincinnati 3, Chi. Cubs 5

Alfonso Soriano’s eighth-inning homer extended Cincinnati’s losing streak to a season-worst five games, but the Reds still come into Friday with a 2 1/2-game lead over Pittsburgh in the National League Central. Chicago, on the other hand, is still games off the pace after snapping an eight-game skid, with a free-falling Houston club the only thing keeping the Cubs out of the basement. Thursday’s game was the first of eight that the Cubs and Reds will play between now and Aug. 19. The season series is even at 3-3.

The Cubs, winners of 12 of their last 16 home games, have scored fewer runs than any team in baseball, becoming the last team in the major leagues to reach the 400-run mark on Thursday. Chicago sports an abysmal 16-42 road mark, but it is a respectable 27-24 at home. Cincinnati, the lone team in the NL Central with a winning record away from home (30-25), has flourished despite the absence of All-Star 1B Joey Votto, riding a pitching staff that ranks third in the majors in ERA and is among the National League leaders in most categories.

TV: 2:20 p.m. ET, WGN (Chicago)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Reds RH Homer Bailey (9-7, 3.98 ERA) vs. Cubs LH Justin Germano (1-1, 3.38)

Cincinnati has won six of Bailey’s last seven starts, but the young right-hander has struggled in his last two outings, giving up 10 runs in just 8 1/3 innings of work. Prior to that, he had given up just two earned runs in his previous 23 innings, throwing seven shutout frames in his last road start at Houston. Bailey is 3-2 with a 5.60 ERA in eight career starts against the Cubs, including a no-decision on May 3.

Germano has pitched well this season, posting a 2.37 ERA when his one appearance with Boston is included, but the Cubs have lost two of his three outings since acquiring him from the Red Sox last month. He has yet to make it through the sixth inning in 2012, and he went 5 1/3 innings in his lone career start against the Reds, a no-decision back in 2007.

WALK-OFFS

1. The Reds have won Bailey’s last seven road starts and are 9-3 in their last 12 road games overall, but they have dropped five in a row against NL Central teams.

2. Chicago’s Bryan LaHair is 5-for-8 with a home run against Bailey, and Starlin Castro is 4-for-13 with two homers and four runs batted in.

3. Ryan Ludwick, one of just three Cincinnati batters who has faced Germano, is 3-for-3 with a double and a walk in his four plate appearances against him.