Later today the Cubs and Pirates will square off for the first of three contests at PNC Park. The Cubs already got their roster move in – replacing Justin Hancock with Luke Farrell – and their lineup looks a little different (Tommy La Stella at second, Chris Gimenez behind the plate, and Mike Montgomery, the starter, is batting eighth so he can be pinch-hit for sooner than later).
Speaking of Montgomery, this’ll be his first start of the season, and he’ll be looking to impress, as the rotation is where he really longs to be. Fortunatly, well, for him, I suppose, Yu Darvish (MRI tomorrow) and Tyler Chatwood (all kinds of struggles) might just provide an opportunity to stick around longer than just a start or two. We’ll see.
Starting opposite Montgomery is Pirates righty Chad Kuhl. Kuhl, 25, is coming off a pretty excellent start in Cincinnati (Who isn’t? AMIRIGHT?) but tossed just 4.1 innings against the Padres before that. He’s more susceptible to left-handers than righties, and you’re more likely to get to him with contact (36.4% hard-hit rate, 36.7% ground ball rate) than patience (8.3 BB%).
So hopefully the Cubs come out swinging and get this series off to a good start.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (27-22) Pittsburgh Pirates (28-24) – 12:35 CT on ABC-7, 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): 5.33 ERA, 4.25 FIP, 4.50 K/BB
versus
Pirates: Chad Kuhl (R): 4.20 ERA, 4.67 FIP; 2.79 K/BB
Pittsburgh Pirates Lineup:
- Josh Harrison, 2B
- Austin Meadows, RF
- Starling Marte, CF
- Josh Bell, 1B
- Corey Dickerson, LF
- David Freese, 3B
- Sean Rodriguez, SS
- Elias Diaz, C
- Chad Kuhl, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Ben Zobrist, RF
- Tommy La Stella, 2B
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Javy Baez, SS
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Chris Gimenez, C
- Mike Montgomery, P
- Albert Almora Jr., CF