Whose Momentum Will Prevail? Brewers at Cubs, May 10 – May 12, 2019

The Chicago Cubs have not lost a series since the last time they faced the Milwaukee Brewers all the way back on April 7th. At that point in time, they were 2-7 and 5.5 games out of first place, early in the season.

Since then, however, they’ve gone 20-6 and have not lost a single series.

The Brewers, meanwhile, were six games above .500 the last time these two teams met (8-2), but have since gone a much milder 15-14. They’re now a game out of first place as they enter Wrigley Field for three straight against the Cubs southpaws.

Speaking of which …

The Milwaukee Brewers will face Jose Quintana, Cole Hamels, and Jon Lester at Wrigley Field this weekend – aka three lefties on the road.

Versus LHP at Home: 128 wRC+
Versus LHP on Road: 92 wRC+

Glad the series is at Wrigley, I guess.

— Michael Cerami (@Michael_Cerami) May 10, 2019

We’re Going Streaking

The Chicago Cubs (22-13) have won of 9 of their past 10 games, including three in a row. They are in first place in the NL Central with a 1.0 game lead over the Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers (23-16) have won 8 of their past 10 games, including six in a row. They have one more win than the Cubs this season, but three more losses, too.

Game Times and Broadcasts Info

Friday, May 10th at 1:20CT on NBCSC, 670 The Score

Saturday, May 11th at 1:20 CT on ABC-7, 670 The Score

Sunday, May 12th at 6:05 CT on ESPN, 670 The Score

Chicago Cubs

Probable Pitchers:

Jose Quintana 3.40 ERA, 3.59 FIP; 3.64 K/BB

Cole Hamels: 3.38 ERA, 3.65 FIP; 3.14 K/BB

Jon Lester: 1.41 ERA, 2.95 FIP; 4.71 K/BB

Active Depth Chart:

C – Willson Contreras

1B – Anthony Rizzo

2B – Daniel Descalso*

3B – Kris Bryant

SS – Javy Baez

LF – Kyle Schwarber

CF – Albert Almora

RF – Jason Heyward

*Descalso has been banged up lately and Addison Russell is around, so … he might work in at second base. David Bote will also work in at second and third, pushing Kris Bryant into the outfield.

Unavailable: Brandon Morrow, Xavier Cedeño, Tony Barnette, Victor Caratini, Pedro Strop, Ben Zobrist

Milwaukee Brewers

Probable Pitchers:

Gio Gonzalez: 2.61 ERA, 1.68 FIP; 9.00 K/BB

Zach Davies: 1.56 ERA, 2.93 FIP; 1.86 K/BB

Jhoulys Chacin: 5.03 ERA, 5.98 FIP; 1.45 K/BB

Active Depth Chart:

C – Yasmani Grandal

1B – Jesus Aguilar

2B – Mike Moustakas

3B – Travis Shaw

SS – Orlando Arcia

LF – Ryan Braun

CF – Lorenzo Cain

RF – Christian Yelich

Unavailable: Chase Anderson, Aaron Wilkerson

Keep An Eye Out For …

Cubs Pitcher: Jose Quintana has been great lately, but I have noticed a pretty big drop off in strikeouts. After getting 11Ks against the Pirates, 7 against the Marlins, and another 7 against the Dodgers, he registered just two Ks a piece against the Diamondbacks and Cardinals. He still got the job done in both games, but I’d like to see him sitting some more guys down again.

Cubs Player: With Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, and Javy Baez hitting everything in sight, it’s become way too easy to overlook Willson Contreras. But on top of maintaining a fourth-best in baseball 180 wRC+ this season, he’s also working a four-game hitting streak. The entire Cubs offense looks great right now, but don’t forget about that catcher on top.

Brewers Pitcher: Zach Davies has been pretty good this season and is coming of his best start of the year: 7.2 IP, 6H, 2ER, 1BB, 5Ks. Let’s see if the Cubs can slow him down.

Brewers Player: Christian Yelich, with his 216 wRC+ this season, is one of the three players ahead of Willson Contreras on the wRC+ leaderboards this year, HOWEVA, that’s because he’s rocking a 301 wRC+ at home. On the road, he’s been barely better than average (104 wRC+). And against left-handed pitching on the road he has a -25 wRC+. Is it only 12 plate appearances? Yeah, who cares. @ me.