Lefty Tony Cingrani faces the Chicago Cubs for the third time in his seventh start of the season on Tuesday night when the Cincinnati Reds visit Wrigley Field to continue a four-game series.
A third-round draft pick in 2011, Cingrani reached the majors and made three relief appearances last season while posting a 1.80 earned run average in five innings.
He's been called into extended starting roles twice this season while replacing staff ace Johnny Cueto, who's on the disabled list for the second time in three months.
Cingrani got no-decisions in each of his first two meetings with Chicago on April 23 and May 4 - in which the Reds were 1-1 - and allowed eight hits and six runs in 13 innings while walking one and striking out 14.
He tossed five innings of three-run ball in his most recent start on May 17 in the Reds' 5-3 loss at Philadelphia.
In nine overall big-league appearances, Cingrani has struck out 50 batters in 38 innings and has allowed a .210 opposition batting average.
The Cubs will start righty Matt Garza, who also got a no-decision in a May 26 game in Cincinnati that was won by Chicago, 5-4.
In that outing, Garza allowed four runs on four hits in four innings. He is 1-2 in five career meetings with the Reds while posting a 4.55 earned run average in 27 2/3 innings.
In two subsequent starts in late May and early June, Garza has a win and a no- decision while allowing 13 hits and six runs in 13 1/3 innings against Arizona and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
He's 1-0 at Wrigley this season and 10-6 there in 25 career starts.
On Monday, Brandon Phillips clubbed a grand slam and drove in all six runs as the Reds defeated the Cubs, 6-2.
Reds starter Homer Bailey (4-4) pitched eight solid innings, allowing an unearned run on four hits and two walks while striking out eight.
"That's just a tribute to why we work out in the offseason and why we work out between starts and do our running and lifting," said Bailey. "When the time comes and we need to go back out there after 100 pitches for one more inning, there's plenty of juice."
Chicago starter Scott Feldman (5-5) gave up five runs on seven hits over six frames as the Cubs lost for the sixth time in eight games. Starlin Castro drove in one run and Luis Valbuena scored on a throwing error by Phillips.
"He (Feldman) ended up pitching a good game," said Cubs manager Dale Sveum. "Wasn't a whole lot of hard contact besides Phillips' jam shot to right and obviously hit the grand slam nice, but other than that, he pitched pretty good."
The Reds won seven of the first nine games with the Cubs in 2013, including two of three in a series in Cincinnati from May 24-26.
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