ARCHIVE May 6, 2026
May 6, 2026 · NL Cent

Cincinnati Reds vs Chicago Cubs

May 6, 2026Wrigley FieldPartly Cloudy 56°F · 14 mph, In From LF
AWAY
Cincinnati Reds
20-17
6
vs
HOME
Chicago Cubs
25-12
7

Starting pitchers

AWAY · CIN
Brady Singer
Brady Singer
IP 6
HOME · CHC
Colin Rea
Colin Rea
IP 5.1

Lineups

AWAY · CIN
  1. 1 TJ Friedl CF
  2. 2 JJ Bleday LF
  3. 3 Elly De La Cruz SS
  4. 4 Sal Stewart 3B
  5. 5 Nathaniel Lowe DH
  6. 6 Spencer Steer 1B
  7. 7 Will Benson RF
  8. 8 Jose Trevino C
  9. 9 Matt McLain 2B
HOME · CHC
  1. 1 Nico Hoerner 2B
  2. 2 Moisés Ballesteros DH
  3. 3 Alex Bregman 3B
  4. 4 Ian Happ LF
  5. 5 Seiya Suzuki RF
  6. 6 Michael Busch 1B
  7. 7 Carson Kelly C
  8. 8 Pete Crow-Armstrong CF
  9. 9 Dansby Swanson SS

Box score

  12345678910 R
CIN 1000100040 6
CHC 2002000021 7

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 +0.12 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 4.05 vs actual lineup 3.93
  • Player execution +2.07 R/G Players exceeded the lineup's 3.93 projection by 2.07 (scored 6)
  • Game variance +1.95 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

McLain HR from the 9-hole

HOME · Chicago Cubs
  • Manager lineup cost +0.03 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 4.78 vs actual lineup 4.75
  • Player execution +2.25 R/G Players exceeded the lineup's 4.75 projection by 2.25 (scored 7)
  • Game variance +2.22 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Crow-Armstrong HR from the 8-hole

COUNTERFACTUAL

Optimal lineups projected 4.0 – 4.8 — actual was 6 – 7.

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.