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As I noted in the recap to Saturday's win, the Cubs have not swept a series of three games or more in San Francisco since June 20-22, 1977 -- about time they changed that. The Cubs have also not had a sweep of any N.L. West team on the road since May 30-June 1, 2005, when they swept the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
A win this afternoon would give the Cubs a winning road trip, too.
Also, ICYMI earlier (was posted in the comments to Cub Tracks):
Nate Schierholtz has the highest OPS of anyone since the All-Star Break (1.384). He's 10-for-25 with 4 2B and 3 HR
— Mark Simon (@msimonespn) July 28, 2013
Cubs lineup:
DeJesus CF, Lake LF, Rizzo 1B, Schierholtz RF, Castro SS, Valbuena 3B, Barney 2B, Castillo C, Wood P
Giants lineup:
Torres CF, Scutaro 2B, Posey C, Sandoval 3B, Pence RF, Francoeur LF, Arias SS, Belt 1B, Lincecum P
Today's Starting Pitchers |
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Travis Wood has been very good all year, and has not faced the Giants this year. Wood did have a bit of a rough outing his last time out, against the Diamondbacks; that wound up being the worst game the Cubs have had on this road trip. The only current Giant who's had success against Wood is Hunter Pence (6-for-15, a triple, a home run). Keep Pence down and the Cubs have a real good shot at this game.
As Grant Brisbee wrote for me in the series preview, Tim Lincecum is probably the most confusing pitcher in baseball. In his last start before the All-Star break, he threw a no-hitter. In his first start after the All-Star break, he gave up eight runs in three innings. (Granted, that the Reds, who he faced in the second start, are a much better team than the Padres, who he no-hit. But still.) The Cubs hit Lincecum pretty hard themselves, April 14 at Wrigley Field, including home runs by Starlin Castro and Nate Schierholtz, in a game they would have won if not for Shawn Camp, who isn't on the team any more.
Like his teammate Madison Bumgarner last night, Timmy looks sad in that photo. Let's keep him sad.
Today's game is on WGN.
Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation Giants site McCovey Chronicles.
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.