NEWSLETTER
Unfortunately for the Cubs, scoring three games’ worth of runs in a single day at Wrigley Field doesn’t count triple. They’ll need to keep their foot on the gas and continue winning, if they hope to play *any* meaningful baseball past September. Just set that hair on fire again.
Here’s the lineup for Game 2 against the Pirates:
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Nicholas Castellanos, RF
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Willson Contreras, C
- Ben Zobrist, 2B
- Jason Heyward, CF
- Nico Hoerner, SS
- Kyle Hendricks, P
The Pirates are starting former 36th-round pick James Marvel, today, in what will be just the second-big league start of his career. The 25-year-old right-hander previously held the Cardinals to just 2 earned runs on 4 hits and 2 walks over 5.0 innings pitched, so he’s been off to a pretty good start, but he’ll run into a tough offensive lineup in Chicago this afternoon.
Of course, he also presents his own unique challenges. The Cubs have historically done poorly against (1) rookie pitchers they haven’t yet seen much of and (2) guys who throw a lot of off-speed and breaking stuff. Well, Marvel throws his fastball just 50% of the time and at just 90.5 MPH. Otherwise, he goes heavy on his 80 MPH curveball and 84.8 MPH changeup. So … yeah. Yikes.
As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ post closer to game time (1:20 CT).
