Friday night’s game could be explained away by “Clayton Kershaw,” but it was disappointing to see the Cubs fail to really get into Mat Latos or the weak Dodgers bullpen last night. They scored just twice, Jon Lester couldn’t get out of the 7th, and the Cubs dropped the second game of the series, and their fourth game in a row. They need a win tonight to avoid an ugly 1-5 road trip and a sweep in Los Angeles.
They’ve certainly got the right guy on the mound in Jake Arrieta, who’ll be opposed by lefty Alex Wood. The latter is quietly very good, so brace yourself for frustrating moments.
Still, the offense will need to score some runs. You can’t expect Arrieta to shut out the other team every time he goes out there, and the bats need to break out of this four-game funk.
Speaking of which, Joe Maddon is sticking to his against-lefty lineup, which means no Kyle Schwarber, no Chris Coghlan, no Tommy La Stella. Miguel Montero would have been out, too, if David Ross were available. I still very much like the theory behind the approach – waiting for it to pay off one of these games.
Game Info
Los Angeles Dodgers (72-56) at Chicago Cubs (73-55), 7:08 CT on ESPN 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
Alex Wood (3.70 ERA, 3.57 FIP, 3.96 xFIP; 2.22 K/BB)
versus
Jake Arrieta (2.22 ERA, 2.57 FIP, 2.79 xFIP; 4.14 K/BB)
Los Angeles Dodgers Lineup
1. Jimmy Rollins, SS
2. Chase Utley, 2B
3. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
4. Andre Ethier, RF
5. Carl Crawford, LF
6. Yasmani Grandal, C
7. Joc Pederson, CF
8. Enrique Hernandez, 3B
9. Alex Wood, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup
1. Dexter Fowler, CF
2. Chris Denorfia, RF
3. Kris Bryant, 3B
4. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
5. Starlin Castro, 2B
6. Matt Szczur, LF
7. Miguel Montero, C
8. Jake Arrieta, P
9. Addison Russell, SS