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27 years ago today, lights went on for the first time for a game at Wrigley Field. Of course you all know the story of that game, which was rained out in the fourth inning, before becoming official. Fun fact: the original scheduled time of the 8/8/88 game was 3:05 p.m. That's what it says on my ticket from that game, since I bought it before the change to a night-game start was announced.
Exactly one year later, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, an event occurred that would be of great importance to the Cubs in the future, though of course they did not know it then. On that day in that city, Anthony Rizzo was born. Happy 26th birthday to the Cubs first baseman.
Here are today's particulars.
Cubs lineup:
Fowler CF, Schwarber LF, Coghlan 2B, Rizzo 1B, Bryant 3B, Soler RF, Montero C, Hendricks P, Russell SS
Oh hey there, @miggymont26. Game preview: http://t.co/UQNcmbKEps #LetsGo pic.twitter.com/kO6j7aTdTx
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 8, 2015
The Giants lineup was not available at the time I wrote this preview. Please check the BCB Twitter feed for the Giants lineup.
Today's Starting Pitchers |
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Kyle Hendricks had a bit of a rough stretch in July, but his last start (against the Brewers) was excellent (seven innings, four hits, one run). Hopefully, he keeps this going through August. He comes into this game having made just about exactly one full season's worth of starts in his career (34) with 203 innings, a WHIP of 1.123 and an ERA of 3.19, almost matching a 3.33 FIP, and 2.7 career bWAR. Despite all that experience, he has never faced the Giants or anyone on their roster. That should be to his advantage.
Matt Cain used to be one of the best pitchers in the major leagues, but missed the second half of last year and first half of 2015 after surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow. He's made six starts this year and has yet to go beyond six innings. A couple of those starts have been decent, the rest not so much. He has not faced the Cubs since April 12, 2013, and I pass that link along mostly to let you know how much the Cubs have changed over the last two years. At 30, it's a reasonable question to wonder if Cain's best years are behind him.
Today's game is on ABC7 Chicago. For coverage info in other Midwest markets click here (link opens .pdf).
Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation Giants site McCovey Chronicles. If you do go there to interact with Giants fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.
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.