Jeff Samardzija has been sans pirate-beard/stache lately, have you noticed? I think it’s sapped him of his superhuman power, not unlike Samson. Bring it back, Jeff.
The Cubs face Scott Diamond today, who’s been mighty effective in limited duty this year. Ah, but he hasn’t yet had to face DH-infused Alfonso Soriano.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (19-39) at Minnesota Twins (23-34), 1:10pm CT on CSN.
Game Thread and Series Preview
The Game Thread lives here. You should participate in the madness. 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 for this series lives here.
Starting Pitchers
Jeff Samardzija (5-3, 3.13 ERA, 3.05 FIP)
versus
Scott Diamond (4-1, 1.86 ERA, 3.58 FIP)
Minnesota Twins Lineup
1. Denard Span, CF
2. Ben Revere, RF
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Josh Willingham, LF
5. Justin Morneau, 1B
6. Ryan Doumit, DH
7. Trevor Plouffe, 3B
8. Brian Dozier, SS
9. Jamey Carroll, 2B
Chicago Cubs Lineup
1. Reed Johnson, LF
2. Starlin Castro, SS
3. David DeJesus, RF
4. Alfonso Soriano, DH
5. Jeff Baker, 1B
6. Joe Mather, CF
7. Steve Clevenger, C
8. Darwin Barney, 2B
9. Ian Stewart, 3B