ARCHIVE May 5, 2026
May 5, 2026 · NL Cent

Cincinnati Reds vs Chicago Cubs

May 5, 2026Wrigley FieldCloudy 57°F · 8 mph, L To R
AWAY
Cincinnati Reds
20-16
2
vs
HOME
Chicago Cubs
24-12
3

Starting pitchers

AWAY · CIN
Andrew Abbott
Andrew Abbott
IP 5.2
HOME · CHC
Jameson Taillon
Jameson Taillon
IP 5.2

Lineups

AWAY · CIN
  1. 1 TJ Friedl CF
  2. 2 JJ Bleday LF
  3. 3 Elly De La Cruz SS
  4. 4 Sal Stewart 1B
  5. 5 Nathaniel Lowe DH
  6. 6 Spencer Steer RF
  7. 7 Tyler Stephenson C
  8. 8 Matt McLain 2B
  9. 9 Ke'Bryan Hayes 3B
HOME · CHC
  1. 1 Nico Hoerner 2B
  2. 2 Alex Bregman DH
  3. 3 Ian Happ LF
  4. 4 Seiya Suzuki RF
  5. 5 Dansby Swanson SS
  6. 6 Michael Busch 1B
  7. 7 Matt Shaw 3B
  8. 8 Miguel Amaya C
  9. 9 Pete Crow-Armstrong CF

Box score

  12345678910 R
CIN 1000010000 2
CHC 0000001101 3

Manager comparison

Both managers grade B- / C entering this matchup.

AWAY · CIN
Terry Francona
B- Lineup 0.9 R Bunts 0.8 R IBBs 0.8 R
HOME · CHC
Craig Counsell
C Lineup 1.7 R Bunts 0.4 R IBBs 0.3 R

Recent form

AWAY · CIN
1-9 L8 -46 run diff
LLLLLLLLWL
HOME · CHC
10-0 W10 +27 run diff
WWWWWWWWWW

Season series: 0-4 with CIN listed first across 4 prior meetings.

Tactical analysis

RunsLeft separates manager decisions from player execution from game variance. Each card below is the same three-number framework that drives the share cards on the SPA replay page.

AWAY · Cincinnati Reds
  • Manager lineup cost +0.09 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 4.05 vs actual lineup 3.95
  • Player execution −1.95 R/G Players fell 1.95 short of the lineup's 3.95 projection (scored 2)
  • Game variance −2.05 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Friedl 0-for-5 batting 1st

HOME · Chicago Cubs
  • Manager lineup cost +0.01 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 4.81 vs actual lineup 4.80
  • Player execution −1.80 R/G Players fell 1.80 short of the lineup's 4.80 projection (scored 3)
  • Game variance −1.81 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Happ 0-for-4 batting 3rd

COUNTERFACTUAL

Optimal lineups projected 4.0 – 4.8 — actual was 2 – 3.

Keep reading

How RunsLeft analyzes games

Standard content on this page comes from the MLB Stats API. Tactical analysis comes from a per-game Monte Carlo: 10,000 simulated games against the opposing starter's ERA, both for the actual lineup the manager wrote and for the optimal arrangement of those nine players. The three numbers — manager cost, player execution, game variance — separate which part of the result was the lineup, the players, or the dice.

Read the full methodology.