The Cubs and the Phillies are the two worst teams in the NL, so this is quite a rumble. At least the Cubs are paying almost $100 million less for their mess.
Jake Arrieta gets a chance to show off his continued improvement against a tough-ish lefty lineup. Opposite-handedness often neutralizes sinkers, so I wonder if we’ll see him using his two-seamer a little less tonight.
The Cubs made a roster move before tonight’s game, putting Emilio Bonifacio on the DL (rib cage injury of yet unrevealed severity) and bringing Ryan Sweeney off of it (hamstring). Sweeney gets put right back into the thick of things, playing center field and batting second. You may not recall, but he’d finally started squaring the ball up when he hurt his hamstring. Hopefully he’s not back at square one.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (26-38) at Philadelphia Phillies (28-36), 6:05 CT on WGN.
Game Thread and Series Preview
Game threads now live here in the comments – and with Disqus, they should be even more enjoyable.
The Series Preview lives here.
Starting Pitchers
Jake Arrieta (2.50 ERA, 2.58 FIP, 3.16 xFIP; 2.69 K/BB)
versus
Roberto Hernandez (4.35 ERA, 4.71 FIP, 4.33 xFIP; 1.53 K/BB)
Philadelphia Phillies Lineup
1. Tony Gwynn, Jr. CF
2. Jimmy Rollins, SS
3. Chase Utley, 2B
4. Ryan Howard, 1B
5. Marlon Byrd, RF
6. Domonic Brown, LF
7. Carlos Ruiz, C
8. Reid Brignac, 3B
9. Roberto Hernandez, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup
1. Chris Coghlan, LF
2. Ryan Sweeney, CF
3. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
4. Starlin Castro, SS
5. Luis Valbuena, 3B
6. Nate Schierholtz, RF
7. John Baker, C
8. Darwin Barney, 2B
9. Jake Arrieta, P