You should not live or die with any one (non-playoff) game. After all, the Cubs play 162 of them a year; there’s a lot of room for things to change. But I have to say, I really need them to pick up a win today.
I know that it won’t necessarily change anything, the Cubs still have a myriad of struggles, a couple of injuries, and god knows what else going on, but a win would give the Cubs a series victory and a nice start into this looooong stretch of baseball (14 more games without a break).
It would also probably mean that today’s starter, John Lackey, performed a bit better than he has been lately, because lately … well, hasn’t gone well. In his last six starts alone, he’s allowed 24 (!) earned runs which is good for a 6.48 ERA. He’s also, as I’m sure you know, allowed a TON of home runs (11) during that same stretch. Something’s got to change.
He’ll be pitching against the young and talented, although recently injured Jameson Taillon. Taillon has made one start since returning from the DL, but it was a good (albeit brief: 5.0 IP) one against the Colorado Rockies. Given that the Pirates will likely want to play it safe with their young starter, the Cubs bats would be wise to be patient and get him out of the game sooner than later.
Let’s see.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (33-34) at Pittsburgh Pirates (31-37) – 6:05 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: John Lackey (R): 5.26 ERA, 5.55 FIP, 4.30 xFIP; 3.17 K/BB
versus
Pirates: Jameson Taillon (R): 2.90 ERA, 3.95 FIP, 3.84 xFIP; 2.33 K/BB
Pittsburgh Pirates:
- Adam Frazier, LF
- Josh Harrison, 2B
- Gregory Polanco, RF
- David Freese, 3B
- Josh Bell, 1B
- Andrew McCutchen, CF
- Elias Diaz, C
- Jordy Mercer, SS
- Jameson Taillon, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Ian Happ, 2B
- Willson Contreras, C
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Albert Almora Jr., CF
- Tommy La Stella, 3B
- Javy Baez, SS
- John Lackey, P
- Jon Jay, LF