Ah, the old April night game at Wrigley. In my experience, they are two things: fun if you’re with friends, and very cold.
Edwin Jackson and Charlie Morton square off again in an outing that most probably hope won’t once again go 16 innings. If the Cubs plan to win it in 9, they’ll need the lefty-heavy lineup – the one that struggled against Morton last time, but dominated A.J. Burnett this weekend – to fare well. I know, I know, Lake-Olt-Grr, but this is the right approach for now, not only in general, but against a righty hard sinker guy like Morton. As I wrote last time against Morton:
Speaking of which: Morton’s career splits are staggering. Righties have hit just .251/.316/.345, whereas lefties have hit 327/.410/.497 off of him.
You stack the lineup with lefties against a guy like that. You just do.
As for Edwin Jackson, here’s hoping he doesn’t suffer from having to face the Pirates two games in a row.
Game Info
Pittsburgh Pirates (4-2) at Chicago Cubs (2-4), 7:05 CT on CSN.
Game Thread and Series Preview
The Game Thread lives here. 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 lives here.
Starting Pitchers
Charlie Morton (0.00 ERA, 2.12 FIP, 2.52 xFIP; 6.00 K/BB)
versus
Edwin Jackson (1.69 ERA, 4.06 FIP, 4.73 xFIP; 1.25 K/BB)
Pittsburgh Pirates Lineup
1. Starling Marte, LF
2. Travis Snider, RF
3. Andrew McCutchen, CF
4. Pedro Alvarez, 3B
5. Russell Martin, C
6. Neil Walker, 2B
7. Travis Ishikawa, 1B
8. Jordy Mercer, SS
9. Charlie Morton, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup
1. Emilio Bonifacio, 2B
2. Ryan Kalish, LF
3. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
4. Nate Schierholtz, RF
5. Luis Valbuena, 3B
6. Starlin Castro, SS
7. Ryan Sweeney, CF
8. Welington Castillo, C
9. Edwin Jackson, P