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What, you again?
This is the Cubs' 13th series of the year, and third against the Cardinals. By the time this four-game set ends, the Cubs will have played 10 of their first 40 games of 2014 against their rivals from St. Louis.
Following this, the Cubs won't face the Cardinals until after the All-Star break, the last weekend of July. They'll face them again the last weekend of August and then for the final three Wrigley Field games of 2014 in late September.
Thanks, schedule-makers. This makes little or no sense.
On the other hand, the Cardinals are one of only two teams the Cubs have faced so far this year against whom they don't have a losing record. They're 3-3 against St. Louis and 2-2 against the Diamondbacks, the other team they have played to a draw. They have a winning record against nobody.
So maybe there's a chance. Maybe. That's why they play the games.
Cubs lineup:
Bonifacio CF, Lake LF, Rizzo 1B, Castro SS, Olt 3B, Castillo C, Schierholtz RF, Barney 2B, Wood P
Mike Olt moves up to the 5th spot. Good test, I think, vs. a LHP.
Cardinals lineup:
Carpenter 3B, Peralta SS, Holliday LF, Craig RF, Molina C, Adams 1B, Bourjos CF, Ellis 2B, Lyons P
Tyler Lyons is listed as a switch-hitter. Doesn't appear that he's doing this in reality, because he has 19 career PA, all of them hitting lefthanded. We'll see if he hits righty against the lefthanded Travis Wood tonight.
Today's Starting Pitchers |
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Travis Wood threw seven good innings against the Cardinals and the Cubs defeated the Cardinals May 2 at Wrigley Field, one of two games the Cubs won in that series. Wood did not pitch in the April series at St. Louis; current Cardinals are hitting .328 (57-for-174) against him with eight home runs, three of them by Yadier Molina.
Tyler Lyons threw a 1-2-3 inning of relief in the Travis Wood start mentioned above, retiring Starlin Castro, Anthony Rizzo and Nate Schierholtz. It's his only career appearance against the Cubs, and he will be making his 12th major-league start tonight.
Today's game is on CSN Chicago. In some areas this game can be seen on ESPN. Check your cable/satellite listings.
Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation Cardinals site Viva el Birdos.
For 2014, we are going to have the same game-thread routine as 2013. Here's how it works.
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.