The Chicago Cubs won again last night, their fourth in a row, and they can lock down this series in Los Angeles with another win today, even before tomorrow’s finale.
Jason Hammel takes the ball for the Cubs, looking to rebound from a disastrous outing in Colorado where his defense, the natural Denver conditions, the strong Rockies bats, and his own ineffectiveness conspired to yield the second time this season he’s allowed 10 runs. Hammel has allowed 52 runs total this year, and 20 of them (38.5%) have come in just 2 of his 24 starts. Baseball!
Opposing Hammel is Julio Urias, 14 years his junior. When Hammel broke into the league, Urias wasn’t even 10 years old yet. And Hammel’s not old!
Urias has been very good this year for the Dodgers in a limited number of starts, but his worst outing – his second in the big leagues this year – probably came against these Cubs, who homered three times in five innings (Javy Baez, Kris Bryant, Jason Heyward).
How’s this for fun: the only lefty Urias will face today is first baseman Anthony Rizzo, batting third. The only righty Jason Hammel will face is third baseman Justin Turner, batting third. And both Urias and Hammel feature splits this year of about 50 points of wOBA against the opposite hand.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (82-45) at Los Angeles Dodgers (71-57), 3:05 CT on WGN-9, FS1, 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: Jason Hammel (R): 3.07 ERA, 4.27 FIP, 4.29 xFIP; 2.61 K/BB
versus
Dodgers: Julio Urias (L): 3.95 ERA, 3.32 FIP, 3.57 xFIP; 2.70 K/BB
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Los Angeles Dodgers Lineup
1. Chase Utley, 2B
2. Corey Seager, SS
3. Justin Turner, 3B
4. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
5. Yasmani Grandal, C
6. Josh Reddick, RF
7. Joc Pederson, CF
8. Andrew Toles, LF
9. Julio Urias, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup
1. Dexter Fowler, CF
2. Kris Bryant, 3B
3. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
4. Ben Zobrist, RF
5. Addison Russell, SS
6. Jorge Soler, LF
7. Willson Contreras, C
8. Javy Baez, 2B
9. Jason Hammel, P