Hey! The Cubs have won three straight series. That’s fun.
It’s shaping up to be an absolutely beautiful day for baseball, which makes me even more excited to be at the game.
John Lackey takes the ball for the Cubs and will look to continue a really nice stretch of baseball going all the way back to May 1. This Diamondbacks team beat up on Lackey in his first start of the year, but we’ll see if that was more about Lackey getting things rolling, or more about the D-Backs being on him at the plate.
Lackey will pitch to Miguel Montero, who is one of six batters that will hit from the left side of the plate today.
And that’s because the Diamondbacks are countering with the talented, but struggling youngster, Archie Bradley. Bradley is/was a (former) top prospect who hasn’t quite put it together at the Major League level just yet, but is still only 23 years old. He’s struggled with his control this year (10.3% walk rate) and hasn’t quite figured out how to strike out many Major Leaguers (19.2%), but something tells me has it in him.
Javy Baez is drawing his third consecutive start and fourth in his past five games. With a big day yesterday, he’s looking to keep the good times rolling and build upon the changes he’s made at the plate. Addison Russell, then, is getting the day off.
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Game Info
Arizona Diamondbacks (24-32) at Chicago Cubs (37-15), 1:20 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: John Lackey (R): 3.16 ERA, 3.38 FIP, 3.53 xFIP; 3.94 K/BB
versus
Dodgers: Archie Bradley (R): 6.11 ERA, 4.26 FIP, 4.16 xFIP; 1.88 K/BB
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Arizona Diamondbacks Lineup:
1. Jean Segura, 2B
2. Michael Bourn, RF
3. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
4. Jake Lamb, 3B
5. Wellington Castillo, C
6. Chris Owings, CF
7. Yasmany Tomás, LF
8. Nick Ahmed, SS
9. Archie Bradley, P
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. Miguel Montero, C
8. Javy Baez, SS
9. John Lackey, P