Tonight's game will be the 75th between the Cubs and White Sox since interleague play began in 1997; the White Sox lead the all-time series to date 39-35.
In that time there have been five individual series sweeps:
Cubs, 1998; White Sox, 1999; Cubs, 2004; Cubs, 2007; White Sox, 2008.
The only one of those that occurred on enemy turf was the Cubs' three-game sweep on the South Side in 2007. The White Sox have never swept a series at Wrigley Field.
Enough. Stop the losing streak. Win tonight.
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Lineup via tweet from Carrie:
#Cubs lineup Sun nite is 2b riot, rf colvin, cf byrd, 1b lee, lf sori, 3b tracy, c hill, ss castro, p lilly
Gavin Floyd is having a rough year, although he pitched well in his last start against the Tigers. He has faced the Cubs only once, on June 18, 2009 at Wrigley Field. Both Floyd and Carlos Zambrano threw well that day, but neither was involved in the decision, a 6-5 Cubs win. What's most interesting about that boxscore -- a game from less than a year ago -- is how many players for both teams in that game who are no longer with the team they played for then (13 in all, if you're counting).
Ted Lilly has ten career starts vs. the White Sox and is 5-2, but with a 5.94 ERA. Most of those starts were while he was an AL pitcher with Toronto and Oakland; only two of them, one in 2007 and one in 2008, have been since Ted became a Cub. In those two starts, Ted has a win and a no-decision and a 3.95 ERA. Paul Konerko has three career HR in 21 AB vs. Ted -- yet another reason to not let Konerko beat the Cubs tonight.
Today's game is on ESPN. If you like, start a pool as to what time Joe Morgan will state a "fact" about the Cubs that is false. Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today, although all the games should be almost over by now.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation White Sox site South Side Sox.
Today's first pitch thread will be up at 7 pm CDT, and the overflows will post at 8, 9 and 9:45 pm CDT. Apologies for yesterday's overflows; there was a posting time error made by me. Today's will post at the proper times.
Discuss amongst yourselves.