The Cubs lost again yesterday, dropping them back down below the .500 mark. Sigh. They’ll need to win today, to prevent further sinking.
And they’ll (try to) do so behind veteran righty John Lackey. This afternoon’s game will be Lackey’s final start of an extraordinarily disappointing first half. He enters today with a 5.24 ERA and a 5.89 FIP – the former is the 9th worst in MLB, the latter is the worst.
Lackey had put together two nice starts in Miami and Pittsburgh, but allowed eight earned runs (thanks to three homers) in his most recent 5.1 IP in Washington. Those three homers knocked his season total up to 24, which is the most in MLB. Wonderful.
The lefty Blake Snell will be opposing Lackey and the Cubs. As we discussed earlier, his struggles with righties led the Cubs to load the lineup with eight batters who will hit from the right side of the plate. Albert Almora has been particularly strong against righties, so I’m tentatively looking for a nice day at the plate for the Cubs center fielder.
Snell’s last start (against the Pirates) was not very good. In it, he allowed six earned runs on four hits, five walks, and a homer. Hopefully, the Cubs have similar luck this afternoon.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (41-42) at Tampa Bay Rays (44-41) – 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: John Lackey (R): 5.24 ERA, 5.88 FIP, 4.58 xFIP; 2.77 K/BB
versus
Rays: Blake Snell (L): 5.36 ERA, 5.29 FIP, 5.33 xFIP; 1.33 K/BB
Tampa Bay Rays:
- Mallex Smith, CF
- Corey Dickerson, LF
- Evan Longoria, 3B
- Logan Morrison, 1B
- Steven Souza Jr., RF
- Tim Beckham, 2B
- Adeiny Hechavarria, SS
- Jesus Sucre, C
- Blake Snell, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Willson Contreras, C
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Ben Zobrist, RF
- Ian Happ, LF
- Albert Almora Jr., CF
- Javy Baez, 2B
- Addison Russell, SS
- John Lackey, P