Cubs vs. Dodgers Preview, Saturday 8/3, 3:05 CT: Fox, Again

Here's what's dumb about Fox-TV's choices for its three games today (see map link below). There are tons of Cubs fans in Michigan and western Iowa. But those areas are getting the Rangers and Athletics. Why? Because Detroit and Cleveland are American League cities. Does anyone at Fox know anything about fan loyalty and affinity?

Given the Cubs' play this week, maybe you're happy if you're in one of the cities not carrying this game. You can see the entire coverage area linked below, after the pitcher information.

The Dodgers are going for their 13th straight win on the road, which would establish a new franchise record. The Cubs haven't done much this year, so it would be nice if they could deny that to L.A.

Cubs lineup:

Lake CF, Gillespie LF, Rizzo 1B, Castillo C, Castro SS, Schierholtz RF, Ransom 3B, Barney 2B, Samardzija P

Dodgers lineup:

Crawford LF, Puig RF, Gonzalez 1B, Ramirez SS, Ethier CF, Hairston 3B, Schumaker 2B, Federowicz C, Capuano P

Today's Starting Pitchers

Jeff Samardzija Cubs vs. Chris Capuano Dodgers vs. LA -- vs. Cubs

After a rough start to his July, Jeff Samardzija had a really good start his last time out, Monday night against the Brewers. Current members of the Dodgers are 19-for-46 against him (.414) with three doubles and a home run. That isn't good; here's hoping August will be better than July for Shark.

Here's how long it's been since Chris Capuano faced the Cubs: Lendy Castillo pitched in that game. (You can also deduce, probably without looking, that means the Cubs lost that game.) Capuano, though, hasn't had a great year, pitching seven innings only once. Current Cubs are a small-sample-size 6-for-22 (.273) against him. Maybe we won't be doomed today.

Today's game is on Fox. It will be seen in all of Illinois, Colorado, Utah and Arizona and parts of Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, New Mexico, Nevada and California. Here is the complete coverage map. Announcers: Chris Myers and Eric Karros.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Dodgers site True Blue LA.

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.