This could be it.
Tonight, the Chicago Cubs head to San Francisco, where they’ll look to complete a series sweep of the Giants, and progress to their second consecutive NLCS as quickly as possible.
To do so, however, they’ll have to get through Madison Bumgarner first.
Tonight’s starter for the Giants, Bumgarner, has become something of a mythological postseason demigod, slaying team after team while leaving a trail of wreckage in his wake … but he’ll have to beat a very tough Cubs lineup if he wants to keep it up. Earlier today, Luis did an excellent job on the legend of Madison Bumgarner, and it has everything you’d want to know about the next man standing in the Cubs’ way. In short, he’s good, but beatable.
Of course, the Cubs have a kind of demigod of their own in Jake Arrieta. Earlier this month, I took a look at the split season of Jake Arrieta, deciding that there is plenty to like, even if the results weren’t always there. That said, we know as well as anyone that Arrieta always has the potential to completely take charge of any game (especially on the road) and win it all on his own. Earlier today, I took a different look at Arrieta and how he fared against the Giants (including a start at AT&T in May) this year, which has much of what you need to know about his match-up tonight.
With any luck, this series can end tonight.
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Game Info
Chicago Cubs at San Francisco Giants (CHI Leads 2-0) – 8:30 CT on FS1, MLB Network, 670 The Score, ESPN Radio
Game Thread and Series Preview
Your game thread is down in the comments, so let’s have some good, clean (safe-for-work) fun.
The Series Preview lives here. The Lineup Discussion lives here.
Starting Pitchers
Cubs: Jake Arrieta (R): 3.10 ERA, 3.52 FIP, 3.68 xFIP; 2.50 K/BB
versus
Giants: Madison Bumgarner (L): 2.74 ERA, 3.24 FIP, 3.54 xFIP; 4.65 K/BB
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San Francisco Giants:
- Denard Span, CF
- Brandon Belt, 1B
- Buster Posey, C
- Hunter Pence, RF
- Angel Pagan, LF
- Brandon Crawford, SS
- Joe Panik, 2B
- Connor Gillaspie, 3B
- Madison Bumgarner, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Dexter Fowler, CF
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Jorge Soler, LF
- Ben Zobrist, RF
- Addison Russell, SS
- Javy Baez, 2B
- Miguel Montero, C
- Jake Arrieta, P