Chicago Cubs vs. Philadelphia Phillies Preview, Saturday 9/12, 6:05 CT

Since the Cubs were swept in St. Louis June 26-28:

Cubs 43-23
Pirates 42-23
Cardinals 37-29

Since the Cubs were swept by the Phillies at Wrigley July 24-26:

Cubs 31-12
Pirates 27-15
Cardinals 25-18

Keep up the good work tonight -- that is, if the rain doesn't interrupt things again.

Even a rainout tonight, which would force a doubleheader tomorrow, wouldn't hurt the Cubs too much. They were already planning a "staff day" Sunday, so that would still be in place, and Dan Haren could start the other game and still have his next turn on normal rest because of the off day Monday.

Here's hoping they can get this one in. In addition to the records above, since August 30:

Cubs 9-3
Pirates 5-7
Cardinals 5-8

The Cardinals have lost eight of their last 10 after dropping two today to the Reds (Friday's suspended game as well as Saturday's regularly-scheduled game).

Here are today's particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Fowler CF, Schwarber LF, Coghlan RF, Rizzo 1B, Bryant 3B, Montero C, Baez SS, Wood P, La Stella 2B

Here is tonight's #Cubs lineup against the #Phillies. Game preview: http://t.co/Jgn5yTsvJW #LetsGo pic.twitter.com/g8J365tSru

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 12, 2015

Phillies lineup:

Hernandez 2B, Blanco 3B, Herrera CF, Howard 1B, Altherr LF, Bogusevic RF, Galvis SS, Rupp C, Eickhoff P

Today's Starting Pitchers

Travis Wood Cubs vs. Jerad Eickhoff Phillies vs. Phi -- vs. Cubs

Travis Wood is starting this game due to bad weather forecasts; originally it was to be Dan Haren, who will be moved to Sunday's game. This way the "bullpen game" will either be this one, if it's played, or Sunday as part of a doubleheader.

Wood's last start was May 14 against the Mets and he has made three relief appearances against the Phillies this year, including Friday night when he threw 13 pitches. I wouldn't expect him to go more than two innings in this game, after which we might see Clayton Richard and/or Tsuyoshi Wada.

Fun fact about Jerad Eickhoff: he was drafted in the 46th round by the Cubs in 2010, but did not sign, and was eventually selected by the Rangers in the 15th round the following year. He was acquired by the Phillies in the Cole Hamels deal and has made four major-league starts. He did not allow a run in his big-league debut, but since then has posted a 6.35 ERA and allowed three home runs in 17 innings. He has obviously never faced the Cubs or anyone on the current Cubs roster. The Cubs did pretty well against the other guys in this series who they'd never faced before. Let's hope that continues.

Today's game is on CSN Chicago.

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 Phillies site The Good Phight. If you do go there to interact with Phillies 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.