Pre-Gamin’: Braves at Cubs (1:20 CT) – Lineup, Broadcast Info, Game Thread

wrigley stands crowdThe Chicago Cubs will finish up their second straight rain-shortened series today, with the middle game washed out. The first one, against the Brewers, netted the Cubs a two-game sweep. Today, they’ll try to do the same to the Braves.

John Lackey is on the mound, and we’ll see which version the Cubs get today – he has, at times, looked overpoweringly dominant, and at other times has looked far too hittable up in the zone. He’ll face a Braves lineup that features Freddie Freeman and also other guys who are technically on a big league roster.

These Braves, man. Not exactly going for it this year. Heck – their suits would probably be annoyed if they win this game. Accommodate them, Cubs.

[adinserter block=”1″]Offensively, the Cubs get Kris Bryant back in the starting lineup, and Tim Federowicz makes his Cubs debut behind the plate. Miguel Montero he is not, but hopefully he calls and receives a good game, which is all you can realistically want right now. Any offensive upside that emerges is gravy.

Julio Teheran starts for the Braves, and his strange downward trend of the last few years has continued into this season.

Game Info

Atlanta Braves (5-18) at Chicago Cubs (17-5), 1:20 CT on WGN-9, 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: John Lackey (R): 4.97 ERA, 3.17 FIP, 2.91 xFIP; 4.50 K/BB

versus

Braves: Julio Teheran (R): 4.60 ERA, 4.69 FIP, 4.46 xFIP; 2.27 K/BB

[adinserter block=”2″]

Atlanta Braves Lineup

1. Nick Markakis, RF

2. Erick Aybar, SS

3. Freddie Freeman, 1B

4. Adonis Garcia, LF

5. Kelly Johnson, 2B

6. Tyler Flowers, C

7. Jace Peterson, 3B

8. Julio Teheran, P

9. Mallex Smith, CF

Chicago Cubs Lineup

1. Dexter Fowler, CF

2. Jason Heyward, RF

3. Kris Bryant, LF

4. Anthony Rizzo, 1B

5. Ben Zobrist, 2B

6. Tommy La Stella, 3B

7. Addison Russell, SS

8. Tim Federowicz, C

9. John Lackey, P

written by

Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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