Somehow, the Cubs are suddenly on the verge of a three-game losing streak. How the heck did that happen?
Mike Montgomery takes the mound today for his first start of the year. And while a start from Montgomery sure felt inevitable this season, I don’t think we necessarily expected him to be taking over for an injured Kyle Hendricks. Alas, here we are. Fortunately, Montgomery’s pretty stretched out already, having tossed 3.1 innings just four days ago.
As a starter last season, Montgomery kept a nice 3.28 ERA through 35.2 innings, but he wasn’t without his struggles. While batters hit just .215 off him and got on base at a lowly .306 clip, they slugged .450 against him for the season. Hopefully that doesn’t happen this afternoon.
Opposing Montgomery, is Rockies’ righty German Marquez. Marquez, 22, hasn’t been great this season (4.53 ERA), but his peripherals suggest he’s been a bit better than that (3.91 FIP). He’s been allowing a lot of contact in the air and a lot of hard contact this season, compared to last, so hopefully the Cubs can take advantage and get back in the win column.
Game Info
Colorado Rockies (39-23) at Chicago Cubs (30-29) – 1:20 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: Mike Montgomery (L): 2.21 ERA, 3.81 FIP, 4.31 xFIP; 1.30 K/BB
versus
Rockies: German Marquez (R): 4.53 ERA, 3.89 FIP, 4.14 xFIP; 2.93 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
- Ryan Hanigan, C
- German Marquez, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Ian Happ, CF
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Ben Zobrist, 2B
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Javy Baez, SS
- Miguel Montero, C
- Mike Montomgery, P
- Kyle Schwarber, LF