The Cincinnati Reds are currently the first team out in the National League playoff picture, as they sit three games behind the San Diego Padres for the final wild card spot. They’ll look to gain some ground in the playoff chase when they face their division rivals Chicago Cubs in the second battle of a three-game set on Tuesday, August 5, at 8:05 p.m. ET on TBS. Cincinnati prevailed 3-2 in Monday night’s affair between these two squads, though the defeat still kept Chicago in the top wild card spot at 65-47. 

Baseball fans looking to get into MLB betting at the top sportsbooks can get the latest Reds vs. Cubs predictions and player props from the SportsLine Projection Model, which simulates every game 10,000 times. 

Zack Littell will be making his Reds debut after coming over from the Tampa Bay Rays ahead of the trade deadline. Littell went 8-8 with a 3.58 ERA with the Rays and has allowed two or fewer earned runs in five of his past seven outings. The Cubs will counter with Shota Imanaga (8-4, 3.25), whose last two outings resulted in him allowing 10 earned runs in eight innings to raise his ERA from 2.40 to 3.25. 

Imanaga’s strikeout prop at FanDuel Sportsbook is at 5.5 (Over -108, Under -118), while Littell’s comes in at 3.5 (Over -158, Under +118). The SportsLine Projection Model’s strongest player prop recommendation for either starting pitcher is Under 17.5 outs recorded (+142) for Imanaga, as it has calculated just 16.0 outs for the southpaw to make this a 4.5-star play out of 5 stars. 

Four Cubs lead the way for shortest odds to homer in this contest, with Seiya Suzuki possessing the lowest odds of the bunch at +370. NL MVP contender Pete Crow-Armstrong is tied for the second-shortest home run odds at +500, along with teammate Michael Busch. Elly De La Cruz and Matt McLain have the lowest odds of any Reds player at +600 each. 

The Cubs are -179 favorites (wager $179 to win $100) in the latest SportsLine consensus odds, while the Reds are +149 (wager $100 to win $149) underdogs. The total is at 7.5 after it first opened at 8. You can find the model’s latest projections and expert picks for Reds-Cubs at SportsLine.

Here are the SportsLine model’s projections for Reds vs. Cubs on Tuesday.

CINCINNATI REDS at CHICAGO CUBS | 8/5 | 8:05 p.m. ET

Money line
Pick: Cubs -179
Chicago wins in 71% of simulations, bringing value at these odds

Run line
Pick: Cubs -1.5 (+121)
Chicago covers in 46% of simulations, bringing value at these odds

Over/Under
Pick: Over 7.5 (-111)
The Over hits in 51.2% of simulations

Projected score: Cubs 5.3, Reds 3.8