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If you thought it looked cold (or felt cold if you were actually at Citi Field) during Saturday night's Game 1 of the NLCS, check out the forecast for Game 2:
Patchy frost after 4am. Otherwise, clear, with a low around 37. North wind 7 to 10 mph.
At least it won't be quite as windy as it was during Game 1; several Cubs players were quoted as saying the wind was a worse issue than the cold. The reported game-time temperature Saturday was 48, with a 15 mile per hour wind. The game-time temp tonight could be in the low 40s, but at least with less wind it won't feel as cold.
Will cold be a factor? Doesn't have to be. Three home runs were hit in Game 1 despite the low temperatures. Whatever the case, here's hoping it's a night dominated by Jake Arrieta.
On to today's particulars.
Cubs lineup:
Fowler CF, Schwarber LF, Bryant 3B, Rizzo 1B, Castro 2B, Coghlan RF, Montero C, Baez SS, Arrieta P
#NLCS Game 2: Jake's Turn. #LetsGo Preview: http://t.co/uSiDc134RB #FlyTheW pic.twitter.com/stp8ivqXqR
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) October 18, 2015
Mets lineup:
Granderson RF, Wright 3B, Murphy 2B, Cespedes CF, Duda 1B, d’Arnaud C, Conforto LF, Flores SS, Syndergaard P
Today's Starting Pitchers |
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Jake Arrieta got the extra day off in between starts in large part because he said he was exhausted after the wild-card game. It showed in his effort at Wrigley against the Cardinals, where he was good but not the dominant Jake! we've become used to seeing.
Jake faced the Mets twice this year. May 12 at Wrigley: eight innings, three hits, one run, 10 strikeouts. July 2 at Citi Field: eight innings, five hits, one run, seven strikeouts.
But, you'll say (as they're all saying), David Wright and Yoenis Cespedes weren't on the Mets when Jake faced them!
Wright vs. Jake: 0-for-4. Cespedes vs. Jake: 1-for 6 (although, the one hit was a HR, hit June 10 when Cespedes was with the Tigers).
Noah Syndergaard made his major-league debut in that May 12 game at Wrigley Field, facing Jake. He allowed six hits and three earned runs, striking out six (but walking four).
The guy they call "Thor" has had a fine rookie year. He can bring a 98 or 99 mile per hour fastball to the table, although sometimes that leaves the park -- 19 home runs allowed in 150 innings, and 13 of those were in just 63⅓ innings since August 1.
He started Game 2 of the division series against the Dodgers and threw reasonably well, three earned runs in 6⅓ innings, though the Mets lost. Much has been made of his one inning of relief five days later in Game 5 -- 17 pitches in the game and an estimated 100 in the bullpen, getting up three different times.
Will that have an effect on him, starting with just two days' rest? He has never pitched on less than four days' rest throughout his professional career (since 2010) and has thrown more 46 more innings this year than in any other season.
Let's hope he's completely tired out from all his innings this year and the Cubs hit him hard.
Today's game is on TBS. Announcers: Ernie Johnson, Ron Darling, Cal Ripken, Sam Ryan and Matt Winer.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
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The 2015 Game Thread procedure has changed a bit. Here's how it will work going forward. (And a reminder that a "Rapid Recap" will be posted here by Josh shortly after the game ends, with my own recap at the usual time, 8 a.m. CT tomorrow.)
You'll find the game preview posted separately on the front page, two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).
At the same time, a StoryStream™ containing the preview will also post on the front page. The First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads will be published in that stream, as well as the recap. The recap will also live on the front page as a separate post, and at the time I write the recap I will rename the stream "Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week) Game Threads" so you can go back and find every thread related to that particular game.
You will also be able to find the preview, First Pitch Thread, all the overflow threads and recap 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 the game's StoryStream™ as noted above.
The First Pitch thread will post at five minutes before game time, then an overflow thread at one hour, two hours and 2:45 after the scheduled game time.
Discuss amongst yourselves.