The Cubs left the game-tying run 90 feet away last night (you can go ahead and carve that on my tombstone), but they’ll get another chance to ensure a series-split tonight in Denver. Here’s David Ross’ lineup against the right-handed groundball artist, Antonio Senzatela, and the Colorado Rockies.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
1. Rafael Ortega, DH
2. Jonathan Villar, 2B
3. Willson Contreras, C
4. Ian Happ, LF
5. Frank Schwindel, 1B
6. Seiya Suzuki, RF
7. Jason Heyward, CF
8. Patrick Wisdom, 3B
9. Nico Hoerner, SS
The Cubs lineup is a pretty familiar one today, with the exception of Jonathan Villar subbing in for Nick Madrigal. That’s partly about getting an extra lefty bat in there against Senzatela, but also about hoping for maybe a little more elevation* overall (though Villar is kind of a groundball guy, too).
*Senzatela has been among the most extreme groundball pitchers since his debut in 2017 (50%, 14th highest in that stretch). I’m typing this from my nephew’s birthday party, so we’re going to keep it short. Go Cubs.
As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ post closer to game time (7:10 CT).