Last year, the Cubs played a mid-August series at Florida in which the Sunday game had a blast-furnace starting time of 1:35 Eastern time.
This year, the Marlins appear to have come to their senses, starting most of their Sunday games (until September) at 5:05 Eastern time, including today. Given the typical south Florida weather forecast for this time of year:
Today: Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a high near 90. Heat index values as high as 101. East wind between 7 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 10%.
Tonight: Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 82. East wind between 6 and 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 10%.
... that's probably a good idea. (A "low" of 82? It's hardly gotten above 82 in Chicago all summer!)
Tom Gorzelanny, scheduled to start Tuesday vs. the Reds in Cincinnati, is on something of a short leash:
After that, All-Star Ted Lilly is due to return from the disabled list, and unless Carlos Zambrano's stiff lower back is a lingering problem, that would seem to leave no room for Gorzelanny in the rotation.
"We'll see," manager Lou Piniella said. "Right now we've got him scheduled for three starts, and we'll go from there."
For his part, Gorzelanny, who grew up a White Sox fan in the south suburbs, is leaving that all behind:
"But now I'm a diehard Cubs fan," he said. "Everybody [in the family] is. Everybody was extremely excited to hear about it. To come back home and play for the Cubs, it's a good feeling."
Gorzelanny, who will wear No. 22, threw a bullpen session and is slated to make his Cubs debut Tuesday in Cincinnati.
Kevin Hart left the Cubs on an up note wearing that uniform number. Let's hope Gorzelanny does it proud.
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Ricky Nolasco's first nine starts this year -- after having what looked like a breakout year in 2008 -- were horrendous. He had a 9.07 ERA and had given up eight runs in consecutive starts without getting out of the fourth inning in either one. The Marlins sent him to Triple-A for two weeks and he appears to have straightened things out; since his return he is 5-2, 2.71 in 10 starts with 73 strikeouts and only 14 walks in 66.1 innings. One of his early-season losses was to the Cubs May 3 at Wrigley Field; Mike Fontenot and Derrek Lee homered off him in that game.
Ryan Dempster is a long-ago Marlin, though he left there in a trade seven years ago. He is 2-1, 2.57 vs. the Marlins in his career, though only two of those appearances are starts, both of them in 2008; in his last appearance at Whatever-It's-Called-Now Stadium on August 17, 2008, he struck out 10 Marlins in 6.1 innings and the Cubs breezed to a 9-2 win. The only current Marlin who has homered off Dempster is Nick Johnson.
TV is cable-only again today, CSN Chicago and FSN Florida. For other games today see the MLB.com Mediacenter.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation Marlins site Fish Stripes.
Overflow comment threads will post today at 5 pm, 6 pm and 6:45 pm CDT.
Discuss amongst yourselves.