[NOTE: I’ll be at a wedding this afternoon/evening, so there’s a very good chance I won’t be able to do the Enhanced Box Score until very late tonight or early tomorrow morning. My humble, doodling apologies.]
The Cubs are on a four-game winning streak, and today go for a series sweep over the Phillies.
John Lackey has been fantastic of late, and, in theory, this is a weak Phillies lineup he’ll face today. On the pitching side, the Phillies throw out one of their best young pitchers, Vincent Velasquez, who has the potential to dominate when he’s on. So it’s possible, pending the weather, that this could be a pitcher’s duel.
One of Velasquez’s best weapons is a changeup that neutralizes lefties, so that’s probably part of the reason you don’t see the Cubs going too lefty heavy today, even against a young righty. Velasquez actually has a fairly strong reverse split for his career thus far.
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Game Info
Chicago Cubs (33-14) at Philadelphia Phillies (26-23), 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): 3.38 ERA, 3.18 FIP, 3.39 xFIP; 4.69 K/BB
versus
Phillies: Vincent Velasquez (R): 2.75 ERA, 3.31 FIP, 3.58 xFIP; 3.59 K/BB
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Philadelphia Phillies
1. Odubel Herrera, CF
2. Freddy Galvis, SS
3. Andres Blanco, 2B
4. Maikel Franco, 3B
5. Tommy Joseph, 1B
6. Cameron Rupp, C
7. Tyler Goeddel, LF
8. Vincent Velasquez, P
9. Peter Bourjos, RF
Chicago Cubs Lineup
1. Dexter Fowler, CF
2. Jason Heyward, RF
3. Kris Bryant, 3B
4. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
5. Ben Zobrist, 2B
6. Miguel Montero, C
7. Addison Russell, SS
8. Matt Szczur, LF
9. John Lackey, P