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Congratulations to the Blackhawks on their big Game 7 win over the Red Wings Wednesday night -- the first Game 7 OT win in Blackhawks history. They still, of course, must win two more series before hoisting Lord Stanley's Cup, but somehow, that series seemed tougher than anything they might face going forward. And they won despite one of the worst calls I've seen in any postseason game in any sport. The NHL, apparently, has its own version of Angel Hernandez.
One thing I like about NHL playoff series is the post-series handshake. Baseball should adopt this tradition.
If the Cubs win Thursday's game, it would not only be their fourth straight win, a season high, but they would lay claim to this contraption trophy; the Cubs have yet to win it since its creation in 2010. (Did you know that? Or care?)
Cubs lineup:
DeJesus CF, Castro SS, Rizzo 1B, Soriano LF, Schierholtz RF, Castillo C, Valbuena 3B, Barney 2B, Wood P
The White Sox lineup was not available at the time I wrote this post. Please check the BCB Twitter feed for the White Sox lineup.
Today's Starting Pitchers |
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Travis Wood had one of his better 2012 starts against the White Sox, June 19 at the Cell, allowing just one run in six innings in a Cubs win. He's been one of the better pitchers in the National League this year and current Sox are a small-sample-size 8-for-33 (.242) against him.
Longtime Cub nemesis Jake Peavy (lifetime 7-3, 2.23 ERA, 1.153 WHIP in 13 starts vs. the Cubs) made two starts against the Cubs in 2012, throwing 15⅓ innings, allowing eight hits and one run, and striking out 12. Current Cubs are hitting .240 (23-for-96) against him; looks like doom to me.
Today's game is on WGN. It's also on CSN Chicago with the Sox announcers.
Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation White Sox site South Side Sox. Be careful over there, though.
Here's the scoop on game threads for 2013. You'll find the game preview -- like this one -- posting as the first link in the StoryStream™, which will then contain all the overflow threads and the recap. The recap will also be on the front page as a separate post; once I post a game recap, the stream for each game will be retitled "Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week) Game Threads" so you can go back and find every thread related to that particular game.
In general, game previews will post two hours before game time. Exception: for day games after night games, that will usually be 90 minutes.
You will also be able to find the First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads in the box marked "Chicago Cubs Game Threads" at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). They will also appear in this StoryStream™. As I've done for each regular-season game for several years now, we'll have the First Pitch thread at five minutes before game time (moved up from actual game time per your requests), then an overflow one hour, two hours and 2:45 after game time.
Discuss amongst yourselves.