NEWSLETTER
The Cubs toughest pitching matchup of the series, Max Scherzer, doesn’t arrive until tomorrow, but after escaping Stephen Strasburg with a win last night, they’ve gotta be feeling pretty good about their chances this series. Win this game tonight, and you guarantee yourself a split. Lose it, and things get a little tricky. Fortunately, the Cubs have Jon Lester on the mound this evening and he’s coming off four straight excellent starts since his blow up against … oh, Washington. Yep, in his last four outings, Lester has gone a combined 23.2 IP allowing just 4 earned runs (1.52 ERA) on 21 strikeouts and 4 walks. Unfortunately, in the start prior, Lester allowed 8 earned runs on 10 hits in just 3.2 innings pitched against the Nationals. Let’s hope we don’t have a repeat performance. Meanwhile, Joe Ross is starting against the Cubs tonight and he did pretty well against them his last time out: 6.2 IP, 5H, 2ER, 3BB, 7Ks. Once again, let’s hope we don’t get a repeat performance. A win tonight brings the Cubs magic number down to 17, regardless of what the Brewers and Cardinals do. Let’s see if they can get it.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs (83-57) at Washington Nationals (69-72) – Friday, September 7th at 6:05 CT on CSNC, 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 (R): 3.53 ERA, 4.63 FIP; 2.25 K/BB versus Nationals: Joe Ross (R): 5.01 ERA, 4.99 FIP; 3.40 K/BB
Washington Nationals:
- Adam Eaton, RF
- Trea Turner, SS
- Bryce Harper, CF
- Anthony Rendon, 3B
- Ryan Zimmerman, 1B
- Juan Soto, LF
- Adrian Sanchez, 2B
- Spencer Kieboom, C
- Joe Ross, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Daniel Murphy, 2B
- Javy Baez, SS
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Kris Bryant, RF
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- David Bote, 3B
- Willson Contreras, C
- Jon Lester, P
- Ian Happ, CF
