It’ll be hard to focus on much other than Matt Garza tonight, and, for that, I can forgive you. It’s understandable given how “transaction-oriented” everything has felt over the last two days.
But I’m also excited to maybe get to see new relievers Pedro Strop and Matt Guerrier in action. How they’re used over the next few weeks could tip us off on whether the Cubs are trying to squeeze some surprise value out of them at the Trade Deadline (oops, I just slipped back into “transaction-oriented” mode again), or maybe in August.
It would be nice to see the Cubs win, also. Perhaps they can find a way to beat up on – eh hem – ageless wonder Bartolo Colon.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (35-46) at Oakland A’s (49-35), 9:05 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
Matt Garza (3-1, 3.83 ERA, 3.89 FIP)
versus
Bartolo Colon (11-2, 2.79 ERA, 3.26 FIP)
Oakland A’s Lineup
1. Coco Crisp, CF
2. Seth Smith, DH
3. Jed Lowrie, SS
4. Yoenis Cespedes, LF
5. Brandon Moss, 1B
6. Josh Donaldson, 3B
7. John Jaso, C
8. Josh Reddick, RF
9. Eric Sogard, SS
Chicago Cubs Lineup
1. Luis Valbuena, 3B
2. Starlin Castro, SS
3. Nate Schierholtz, RF
4. Alfonso Soriano, DH
5. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
6. Dioner Navarro, C
7. Brian Bogusevic, LF
8. Darwin Barney, 2B
9. Julio Borbon, CF