Carlos Villanueva makes his second start for the Cubs, and it will hopefully go as well as the first one. You’re not looking for Villanueva to dominate (though you’d always love to see that), but you’d like to see the Cubs head into the later innings of the game with a chance to win.
That could be tough today, though, because the guy on the other side is Adam Wainwright. Who is very good. Always.
Emilio Bonifacio gets the day off today, so Junior Lake has the unenviable task of going up first against Wainwright. It’s an interesting lineup, without a clear platoon bent (for his career, Wainwright has a 57-point OPS split against lefties and righties, so it’s not huge). Mike Olt does not get the start today, which could just a matter of not wanting to put too many righties in the lineup. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t note that he was shaking out and stretching his shoulder after a slide back to first last night. That’s the shoulder that gave him trouble all of Spring Training.
With a win today or tomorrow, the Cubs can win their first series of the year, which would be damn skippy.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (4-6) at St. Louis Cardinals (5-5), 1:15 CT on CSN.
Game Thread and Series Preview
The Game Thread lives here. And, of course, for those who aren’t into message board-style game threads, please feel free to use the comments on this post for your in-game commentary/outbursts.
The Series Preview lives here.
Starting Pitchers
Carlos Villanueva (4.26 ERA, 4.48 FIP, 4.31 xFIP; 4.00 K/BB)
versus
Adam Wainwright (1.29 ERA, 2.21 FIP, 3.16 xFIP; 2.67 K/BB)
St. Louis Cardinals Lineup
1. Matt Carpenter, 3B
2. Kolten Wong, 2B
3. Matt Holliday, LF
4. Matt Adams, 1B
5. Yadier Molina, C
6. Allen Craig, RF
7. Jon Jay, CF
8. Daniel Descalso, SS
9. Adam Wainwright, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup
1. Junior Lake, LF
2. Luis Valbuena, 3B
3. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
4. Nate Schierholtz, RF
5. Ryan Sweeney, CF
6. Starlin Castro, SS
7. Darwin Barney, 2B
8. John Baker, C
9. Carlos Villanueva, P