NEWSLETTER
The Pirates might’ve stolen most of the headlines today by acquiring long-time-rumored-Cub, Chris Archer, but the Cubs can still win before the night is over. And there’d be nothing better than taking the wind out of their sails with a two game sweep immediately after making a bunch of deadline deals, right? Right.
To get there, the Cubs will need Jon Lester to look a lot more like the guy he was in his most recent start against the Diamondbacks (6.0 IP, 4H, 1ER, 0BB, 7Ks) than the guy he was two starts ago against the Cardinals (*stats not found or have been deleted by me*). I have faith that he’ll continue to get good results until he end of the year, but let’s just hope that includes tonight (at least Corey Dickerson is on the DL).
Jameson Taillon is starting for the Pirates tonight, though he’s coming off a really good start of his own against the Indians, wherein he allowed just two earned runs over 7.0 innings in Cleveland. That’s big-time. The Cubs actually haven’t faced Taillon yet this season, so he may even have a bit of an advantage, particularly in the first few innings.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (61-44) at Pittsburgh Pirates (55-52) – Tuesday, July 31 at 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: Jon Lester (L): 3.06 ERA, 4.59 FIP; 2.09 K/BB
versus
Pirates: Jameson Taillon (R): 3.73 ERA, 3.44 FIP; 3.56 K/BB
Pittsburgh Pirates:
- Jordan Luplow, LF
- Starling Marte, CF
- Gregory Polanco, RF
- David Freese, 3B
- Francisco Cervelli, C
- Josh Harrison, 2B
- Jose Osuna, 1B
- Jordy Mercer, SS
- Jameson Taillon, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Ben Zobrist, 2B
- Jason Heyward, RF
- Javier Baez, 3B
- Albert Almora Jr., CF
- Ian Happ, LF
- Willson Conteras, C
- Jon Lester, P
- Addison Russell, SS
