NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Cubs will be playing for their first three-game winning streak of the season tonight, but they’ll be doing so without Kris Bryant, who continues healing up after getting hit in the head with a pitch on Sunday.
Although they’ll certainly miss Bryant’s presence in the middle of the order, his absence does come at a time when the offense seems to firing on all cylinders (and on a day when they get a designated hitter). Hopefully, he’ll be back tomorrow … when the Cubs will be going for their first four-game winning streak of the season (fingers crossed).
As for the pitching matchups, Jon Lester gets the ball tonight and he’s coming off his best start of the season (against the Cardinals at Wrigley Field): 6.0 IP, 2H, 0ER, 1BB, 7Ks. I’d love to see him finally go more than 6.0 innings, but a repeat performance of last time out would do just fine.
Starting opposite Lester is Indians righty Trevor Bauer. Bauer might have some, eh hem, interesting opinions on Twitter from time to time, but he is pitching well this season (2.67 ERA, 3.58 FIP). With that said, he has been allowing a fair amount of hard contact and plenty of balls in the air, so I’d be on the lookout for some more homers leaving the park like yesterday. Oh, and as far as splits go, Bauer has been pretty neutral against lefties and righties throughout his career, but he has been a reverse split guy this season (again, super small sample).
Let’s see if Javy and co. can get it done without their MVP yet again.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (11-9) at Cleveland Indians (12-9)Â – 6:10 CT on NBC Sports Chicago, 670 The Score
Game Thread and Series Preview
Your game thread is down in the comments, so let’s have some good, clean (safe-for-work) fun today.
Starting Pitchers
Cubs: Jon Lester (L): 3.10 ERA, 3.52 FIP; 2.25 K/BB
versus
Indians: Trevor Bauer (R): 2.67 ERA, 3.58 FIP; 2.70 K/BB
Cleveland Indians Lineup:
- Francisco Lindor, SS
- Jason Kipnis, 2B
- Jose Ramirez, 3B
- Edwin Encarnacion, DH
- Michael Brantley, LF
- Yan Gomes, C
- Yonder Alonso, 1B
- Brandon Guyer, RF
- Rajai Davis, CF
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Albert Almora Jr., CF
- Javy Baez, 2B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Willson Contreras, C
- Tommy La Stella, 3B
- Kyle Schwarber, DH
- Addison Russell, SS
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Ian Happ, LF
