I’m going to today’s game with The Wife (right field bleachers, bottom right corner by the new LED board, come say hi), and I have a number of demands.
I want to see Ryan Dempster throw a shutout (or, maybe eight innings of shutout ball, and then Carlos Marmol strike out the side in the 9th (yeah, I said it)). I want to see Bryan LaHair hit three homers. I want to see Starlin Castro go 5 for 5. I want to see Alfonso Soriano steal four bases.
Game Info
Boston Red Sox (31-32) at Chicago Cubs (21-42), 1:20pm CT on CSN, MLBN.
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
Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-1, 7.20 ERA, 14.4 K/9)
versus
Ryan Dempster (2-3, 2.31 ERA, 3.15 K/BB)
Boston Red Sox Lineup
(This is a guess, since I had to head out to the game and set this post up before the lineup was released. If the real lineup differs, I’ll try to update, but kindly post it in the comments if you see it.)
1. Scott Podsednik, LF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. Adrian Gonzalez, RF
4. David Ortiz, 1B
5. Will Middlebrooks, 3B
6. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
7. Ryan Sweeney, CF
8. Mike Aviles, SS
9. Daisuke Matsuzaka, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup
1. Tony Campana, CF
2. Starlin Castro, SS
3. David DeJesus, RF
4. Alfonso Soriano, LF
5. Bryan LaHair, 1B
6. Steve Clevenger, C
7. Darwin Barney, 2B
8. Luis Valbuena, 3B
9. Ryan Dempster, P