More on the pitchers after the jump, but this is the first-ever matchup as starters of these two pitchers born in British Columbia, Canada. (Dempster appeared in relief in a game Francis started at Wrigley Field on September 30, 2006.
Other than that, it's status quo tonight.
- Carlos Zambrano is expected to give his apology to the team after he's activated this afternoon. Bob Howry was given his unconditional release to make room for Z on the roster.
- There is no additional news regarding any of the Cubs trade rumors at this writing. I will update either this post or the others if anything new happens.
One more miscellaneous note about tonight's game: since the Cubs and Rockies are playing only five games this season, if the Cubs win tonight they'll clinch the season series -- since they won both games in Chicago in May.
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This is an unknown pitching matchup -- Ryan Dempster has made two starts vs. Colorado since returning to the rotation in 2008, one that year and one last year; Jeff Francis hasn't started against the Cubs since 2008. Current Cubs are hitting .338 (23-for-68) against Francis with three home runs; current Rockies only .150 (6-for-40) vs. Dempster with only one XBH (a HR by Clint Barmes, of all people). In short, this could be a 1-0 game... or one of those 13-12 Coors Field specials.
Tonight's game is on WGN and FSN Rocky Mountain. Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation Rockies site Purple Row.
Today's first pitch thread will be up at 8 pm CDT, and the overflows will post at 9 pm, 10 pm and 10:45 pm CDT.
Discuss amongst yourselves.