And it begins. A postseason series against the Cardinals. This is something.
Jon Lester takes the ball in Game One against the Cardinals, who counter with his former teammate in Boston, John Lackey. Each has had a fair bit of success against the other team this year, and we’ll see if that continues here in the playoffs. For the Cubs, they’ll need Lester to give them a great outing, what with Jake Arrieta limited to just one start in this series.
As for Lackey, I think he’ll be pounding the zone against the Cubs, trying to get groundballs, and it’ll be up to them to do damage when he’s up in the zone.
Ideally, of course, the Cubs would take both games here in St. Louis, but, slightly more realistically, you’d just love to see them split. With Jaime Garcia going tomorrow against Kyle Hendricks, I like tonight’s match-up for the Cubs just a little more.
Here’s hoping Lester can make his throws to first, because I’ve got a feeling the Cardinals are going to test him heavily.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs v. St. Louis Cardinals, 5:30 CT on TBS.
Game Thread and Series Preview
Your game thread is down there in the comments, so have fun.
The Series Preview lives here.
Starting Pitchers
Jon Lester (3.34 ERA, 2.92 FIP, 3.06 xFIP; 4.40 K/BB)
versus
John Lackey (2.77 ERA, 3.57 FIP, 3.77 xFIP; 3.30 K/BB)
St. Louis Cardinals Lineup
1. Matt Carpenter, 3B
2. Stephen Piscotty, 1B
3. Matt Holliday, LF
4. Jason Heyward, CF
5. Jhonny Peralta, SS
6. Randal Grichuk, RF
7. Yadier Molina, C
8. Kolten Wong, 2B
9. John Lackey, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup
1. Dexter Fowler, CF
2. Kyle Schwarber, RF
3. Kris Bryant, 3B
4. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
5. Starlin Castro, 2B
6. Chris Coghlan, LF
7. Addison Russell, SS
8. David Ross, C
9. Jon Lester, P