Welcome back to Wrigley Field. And welcome to the pain, Brewers.
Er, well, that’s how we hope tonight will go, anyway, lest the only pain be that emanating from Miguel Montero’s back, which is keeping him out of this one. Hopefully it’s just a minor thing, because I don’t think the Cubs will want David Ross catching too many days in a row (to say nothing of being without Montero). Once again, the Kyle Schwarber injury peeks around the corner to taunt us.
Kyle Hendricks gets the ball tonight after a relatively blistering start to his season. No, he hasn’t gone too deep into his starts, but when he gives the Cubs six solid innings, everyone is perfectly happy. And he’s looked plenty good in the process.
On the other side, there’s Jimmy Nelson, who dominated the Cubs over three starts last year (Cubs batters hit a paltry .176/.235/.365). I won’t read much into those numbers, in part because they’re small-ish sample, and mostly because the personnel is different this year. Instead, I mention those numbers only because I found his starts last year against the Cubs to be particularly frustrating, and I get a little pinch in my left eye when I see his name showing up for this one.
No Ryan Braun in this one for the Brewers.[adinserter block=”1″]
Game Info
Milwaukee Brewers (8-11) at Chicago Cubs (14-5), 7:05 CT on CSN, 670 The Score.
Game Thread and Series Preview
Your game thread is down there in the comments, so have fun. But keep it “safe for work” type fun, all right?
The Series Preview lives here. The Lineup Discussion lives here.
Starting Pitchers
Cubs: Kyle Hendricks (R): 4.00 ERA, 2.63 FIP, 2.85 xFIP; 5.00 K/BB
versus
Brewers: Jimmy Nelson (R): 3.46 ERA, 5.77 FIP, 4.36 xFIP; 1.90 K/BB
Milwaukee Brewers Lineup
1. Domingo Santana, RF
2. Scooter Gennett, 2B
3. Jonathan Lucroy, C
4. Chris Carter, 1B
5. Kirk Nieuwenhuis, CF
6. Aaron Hill, 3B
7. Jonathan Villar, SS
8. Ramon Flores, LF
9. Jimmy Nelson, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup
1. Dexter Fowler, CF
2. Jason Heyward, RF
3. Kris Bryant, 3B
4. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
5. Ben Zobrist, 2B
6. Jorge Soler, LF
7. Addison Russell, SS
8. David Ross, C
9. Kyle Hendricks, P
Michael Cerami contributed to this post.