UPDATE: The Cubs have announced that the start of the game will be delayed due to rain. The new start time is 2:15pm CT.
Well that was one heck of a roller coaster yesterday, eh?
After finding themselves in a 5-0 hole by the third inning, the Cubs’ bats battled back against the Brewers, and the bullpen mostly shut things down long enough to eek out a win.
I don’t know about you, but I certainly needed that. With a win today, the Cubs can lock up their fourth series victory of the season (out of five).
Kyle Hendricks will be on the mound for the Cubs, and he’ll undoubtedly be looking to bounce back from his last start against the Pirates: 5.0 IP, 6H, 3ER, 2BB, 3Ks. He’ll be pitching to Willson Contreras behind the plate, and in front of a lineup without Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist, or Kyle Schwarber.
Hendricks’ first start of the season was actually against this very Brewers’ squad and was just so-so: 6.0 IP, 4ER, 5H, 1BB, 6Ks. The majority of the damage came off a couple of home runs from Jonathan Villar and Nick Franklin – both of those guys are in the lineup for the Brewers today, though Ryan Braun is not (Braun is 2-14 with 5Ks against Hendricks).
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Opposing Hendricks and the Cubs is Brewers’ lefty Tommy Milone. Milone faced the Cubs two starts ago and allowed four runs on nine hits and a walk in just 4.0 IP – hopefully, today goes something like that.
Kris Bryant (3-6, 2Bs), Addison Russell (3-4, 2Bs, BB) and Javy Baez (2-4, BB) were the heroes that day, although I wouldn’t quite count that as a righty/lefty thing. For his career, Milone has been fairly close to split neutral against righties and lefties, even though he’ll see just two left-handed Cubs’ hitters today.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (7-7) at Milwaukee Brewers (8-7) – 1:20 on WGN, MLBN, 670 The Score
Game Thread and Series Preview
Your game thread is down in the comments, so let’s have some good, clean (safe-for-work) fun today.
The Series Preview lives here. The lineup discussion lives here.
Starting Pitchers
Cubs: Kyle Hendricks (R): 5.73 ERA, 4.45 FIP, 3.81 xFIP; 3.00 K/BB
versus
Brewers: Tommy Milone (L): 7.36 ERA, 4.27 FIP, 3.92 xFIP; 7.00 K/BB
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Milwaukee Brewers Lineup:
- Jonathan Villar, 2B
- Eric Thames, 1B
- Travis Shaw, 3B
- Hernan Perez, RF
- Nick Franklin, LF
- Jett Bandy, C
- Keon Broxton, CF
- Orlando Arcia, SS
- Tommy Milone, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Matt Szczur, RF
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Addison Russell, SS
- Willson Contreras, C
- Albert Almora, CF
- Javy Baez, 2B
- Kyle Hendricks, P
- Jon Jay, LF