How about a little late morning baseball, eh?
The Cubs go for the series win today in Pittsburgh after coming up just short last night. Lefty Jeff Locke is on the mound for the Pirates, so the Cubs respond with a bunch of righties …
And Kris Bryant in center field.
Dexter Fowler is out with his tight groin issue, and, given the Cubs’ extremely thin bench, Bryant heads to one of the largest center fields in baseball, and Jonathan Herrera plays third base. Hopefully the balls hit to center are easy, and don’t take Bryant anywhere close to the wall. He’s a great athlete, and he’s done this before (in college), but this could be an adventure.
Kyle Hendricks starts for the Cubs, coming off a dominating outing against the Padres. He gets the Pirates without Andrew McCutchen or Starling Marte, so let’s hope he takes advantage.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (8-6) at Pittsburgh Pirates (7-8), 11:35 CT on MLBN, CSN, and MLB.tv.
Game Thread and Series Preview
Your game thread is down there in the comments, so have fun.
The Series Preview lives here.
Starting Pitchers
Kyle Hendricks (6.10 ERA, 2.49 FIP, 2.68 xFIP; 11.00 K/BB)
versus
Jeff Locke (1.93 ERA, 2.35 FIP, 3.52 xFIP; 8.00 K/BB)
Pittsburgh Pirates Lineup
1. Josh Harrison, 3B
2. Andrew Lambo, RF
3. Gregory Polanco, CF
4. Neil Walker, 2B
5. Pedro Alvarez, 1B
6. Jordy Mercer, SS
7. Sean Rodriguez, LF
8. Chris Stewart, C
9. Jeff Locke, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup
1. Chris Denorfia, LF
2. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
3. Jorge Soler, RF
4. Kris Bryant, CF
5. Starlin Castro, SS
6. Welington Castillo, C
7. Addison Russell, 2B
8. Kyle Hendricks, P
9. Jonathan Herrera, 3B