Reds-Cubs box score: Live stats, updates, odds and more for NL Central rubber match

The Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds are set to square off in the rubber match of their three-game set from Wrigley Field on Sunday night, and if the previous two games were any indication, we should be in for some serious fireworks. These two teams have already combined to score 40 runs this weekend, with Cincy taking the opener 10-8 behind four long balls before Pete Crow-Armstrong answered back with three of his own in a 17-5 Cubs rout on Saturday.

Those fireworks aside, it's been a bit of a bumpy ride for the Cubs of late, with a 4-6 record in their last 10 games that has them just barely hanging on to the top NL Wild Card spot over the hard-charging Philadelphia Phillies. With PCA putting up an NL MVP-worthy campaign, this offense can bang with anybody. But you need at least some pitching, too, and injuries — and recent spottiness from Shota Imanaga and deadline acquisition Kevin Gausman — have left Chicago scrambling in that department.

The Reds are just looking to play spoiler at this point, eight games back of the final NL Wild Card spot. But that's a very real possibility if Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart keep raking like this. That gives Cincy two legitimate superstars at the heart of their order, and if Chase Burns — in line to get the start on Sunday night — finds his All-Star form again, this is not a team to be taken lightly.

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Just looking at the pitching matchup, you'd expect Cincinnati to be favored. Yet the Cubs enter Sunday night as 1.5-run favorites behind Shota Imanaga, despite the fact that the lefty has cooled off a bit in August with a 4.58 ERA. He was sensational in July though, pitching to a 1.53 mark, and struck out 10 over six innings of one-run ball in his lone previous start against the Reds this season. Chase Burns, meanwhile, appears to have hit a bit of a wall of late, giving up five runs in two of his five starts so far in August. He's got a 4.33 ERA for the month and a 3.41 mark in the second half, up from 2.54 before the All-Star break, though he's yet to face Chicago in 2026.

Anytime home run odds

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Odds to record a hit

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Head-to-Head

Note: Prop odds are via DraftKings Sportsbook. Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

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