This is going to be one crazy weekend in Chicago.
The Cubs are home playing the Marlins. The White Sox are also home, hosting the Baltimore Orioles. The Grateful Dead is playing their final three "Fare Thee Well" shows at Soldier Field. There were reports of massive crowds at O'Hare Airport Thursday and traffic jams that far exceeded a normal pre-holiday rush.
The weather is even supposed to cooperate, though it might be a little coolish at Wrigley this afternoon, with temperatures at un-July-like levels, only in the 60s.
Now let's win some games, shall we?
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Know how you can tell this is a holiday weekend? Neither team had a lineup posted at the time I wrote this preview. Please check the BCB Twitter feed for today's lineups. Here are the rest of today's particulars.
Today's Starting Pitchers |
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Jason Hammel started, and won, the only game the Cubs won in the series in Miami last month. On June 1, he gave up only five hits, walked nobody, and struck out 11, which was a career high. Hammel had two different starts in June interrupted by rain in which he threw only four innings, but he still posted a 2.80 ERA and 1.075 WHIP in the month. He's been consistent all year and still has a shot at the All-Star team.
Tom Koehler has not faced the Cubs in over a year, and you all know how much the Cubs roster has turned over since then. Thus I include the boxscore from June 16, 2014 for amusement value only.
Koehler also had a good month of June, posting a 2.93 ERA and 1.084 WHIP. With unseasonably cool weather expected today, we could have a low-scoring game.
Today's game is on CSN Chicago. In most of the USA this game will be on ESPN2. Check your cable/satellite listing.
Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.
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.
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.