Edwin Jackson and Daisuke Matsuzaka are two of the slowest-working starting pitchers in baseball. So, naturally they’re facing each other in a game that starts at 8:05pm my time on the week we’re taking The Little Boy off of his night-time bottle. (The night before the draft, to boot!)
Jackson was pretty darn good against the Giants last time out, striking out everyone with good fastball command and a sharp slider – the only two runs he allowed scored after he left the game (arguably, he could have been permitted to stay in a little longer). A solid outing tonight and we *might* be able to call that eight-run clunker in San Diego a mere blip.
Will the Cubs’ offense be able to match last night’s exciting come-from-behind, walk-off win? Or will they, you know, score more than one run before the 9th inning, obviating the need for those kinds of exciting things?
Game Info
New York Mets (28-30) at Chicago Cubs (21-34), 7:05 CT on WGN.
Game Thread and Series Preview
Game threads now live here in the comments – and with Disqus, they should be even more enjoyable.
The Series Preview lives here.
Starting Pitchers
Daisuke Matsuzaka (2.45 ERA, 3.68 FIP, 4.48 xFIP; 1.60 K/BB)
versus
Edwin Jackson (4.81 ERA, 3.23 FIP, 3.56 xFIP; 2.54 K/BB)
New York Mets Lineup
1. Matt den Dekker, CF
2. Daniel Murphy, 2B
3. David Wright, 3B
4. Curtis Granderson, LF
5. Bobby Abreu, RF
6. Lucas Duda, 1B
7. Anthony Recker, C
8. Ruben Tejada, SS
9. Daisuke Matsuzaka, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup
1. Emilio Bonifacio, 2B
2. Justin Ruggiano, CF
3. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
4. Starlin Castro, SS
5. Nate Schierholtz, RF
6. Chris Coughlan, LF
7. Mike Olt, 3B
8. John Baker, C
9. Edwin Jackson, P