NEWSLETTER
As I’m sure you’ve noticed, we’ve had some site issues at Bleacher Nation, The Ten-Yard Line, and Baseball is Fun today, so thanks for being patient as we (Brett, really) works through them.
But because of the issues and the current time, we won’t have a lineup post for the second game tonight. Instead, you can see the lineup below (and I’ll add some notes) alongside your regularly scheduled Pre-Gamin’ information.
How @BleacherNation feels right now (server issues): pic.twitter.com/xaCYMPTg0A
— Michael Cerami (@Michael_Cerami) May 9, 2017
Welp … Game one did not go as planned, as Jake Arrieta got a little unlucky and a lot rocked in his 3.2 innings at Coors. Hopefully, John Lackey has a little bit more luck tonight with a young lineup behind him.
Indeed, two of the Cubs’ grizzeled-most veterans, John Lackey and Ben Zobrist, lead a group of youngsters into battle tonight at Coors field. Addison Russell is back in at shortstop, which means Javy Baez is back at second base. That also means Ben Zobrist is out in left field, providing a game of rest for lead off man Kyle Schwarber against the Rockies lefty, Kyle Freeland.
The best and brightest part about tonight’s lineup is that Jeimer Candelario, the Cubs 26th man for the evening, is not just in it … he’s batting clean-up. Hopefully he can help spark this Cubs lineup into a win. At Iowa, the third baseman was slashing .340/.443/.649 with four home runs and a near-14% walk rate. Ian Happ gets a whole lot of love for his play at Iowa, but Candelario has actually been better this season.
Earlier, I was saying something about it being difficult to sweep both halves of a double-header, right? As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ closer to game time.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (16-16) at Colorado Rockies (21-12) – 7:40 CT on WGN, 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.
Starting Pitchers
Cubs: John Lackey (R): 5.14 ERA, 4.77 FIP, 3.55 xFIP; 4.00 K/BB
versus
Rockies: Kyle Freeland (L): 2.65 ERA, 3.62 FIP, 4.31 xFIP; 1.43 K/BB
Colorado Rockies:
- Gerrardo Parra, RF
- DJ LeMahieu, 2B
- Nolan Arenado, 3B
- Mark Reynolds, 1B
- Ian Desmond, LF
- Trevor Story, SS
- Alexi Amarista, CF
- Dustin Garneau, C
- Kyle Freeland, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Ben Zobrist, LF
- Kris Bryant, RF
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Jeimer Candelario, 3B
- Addison Russell, SS
- Javy Baez, 2B
- Willson Contreras, C
- John Lackey, P
- Albert Almora Jr., CF
