Well, the Chicago Cubs could not complete the sweep yesterday, but today’s a new day, and the Rockies present a whole new opportunity for another winning streak to begin.
Of course, the Rockies are also one of the better teams in Major League Baseball, and did take two of three from the Cubs earlier this season. Even still, tonight’s matchup between Jon Lester and Tyler Chatwood feels like an on-paper advantage for the Cubs.
Lester’s last start against the Cardinals wasn’t his strongest of the season (6.0 IP, 6H, 3ER, 3BB, 4K), but it did represent a nice bounce back from his worst start of the year against the Dodgers. It also provided us with a rare Jon Lester straight pick-off, which was absolutely fantastic (and hilarious) to see. I wonder if the Rockies will be slightly less audacious on first base tonight.
Opposing Lester, as I mentioned, is right-hander Tyler Chatwood.
Chatwood’s got a 4.60 ERA (4.69 FIP) through 12 starts this season, and has walked a hefty 11.8% of batters. But, naturally, his last start against the Padres was an 8.0 inning gem, wherein he allowed just one earned run on four hits and just one walk against eight strikeouts. How you expect him to fare today, then, is a matter of your disposition.
Was that the start of a positive trend? Did he burn up way too much fuel last time around? I suppose we’ll find out tonight. For what it’s worth, lefties have hit Chatwood much better than righties throughout his career, and he’ll face six tonight, including Lester.
Let’s see if the Cubs’ offense keeps on rolling.
The team will be playing without Addison Russell tonight, who is away from the team as he deals with issues at home.
Game Info
Colorado Rockies (38-23) at Chicago Cubs (30-28) – 7:05 CT on CSN-C+, 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: Jon Lester (L): 4.90, 4.94 FIP, 3.96 xFIP; 3.14 K/BB
versus
Rockies: Tyler Chatwood (R): 3.80 ERA, 5.46 FIP, 5.58 xFIP; 1.56 K/BB
Colorado Rockies:
- Charlie Blackmon, CF
- D.J. LeMahieu, 2B
- Nolan Arenado, 3B
- Mark Reynolds, 1B
- Carlos Gonzalez, RF
- Ian Desmond, LF
- Trevor Story, SS
- Tony Wolters, C
- Tyler Chatwood, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Ian Happ, CF
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Ben Zobrist, 2B
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Willson Contreras, C
- Javy Baez, SS
- Jon Lester, P
- Kyle Schwarber, LF