Chicago Cubs vs. Arizona Diamondbacks Preview, Friday 4/8, 8:40 CT

You already know the big news of the day, being discussed over here.

So this thread is really just for the nuts and bolts of tonight's game. The season must go on!

Here are today's particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Fowler CF, Heyward RF, Zobrist 2B, Rizzo 1B, Bryant 3B, Soler LF, Russell SS, Ross C, Hammel P

Here is tonight's #Cubs lineup against the #Dbacks. https://t.co/dPsowYRTLf #LetsGo pic.twitter.com/uvF9kZc46i

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 8, 2016

Diamondbacks lineup:

Segura 2B, Brito CF, Goldschmidt 1B, Peralta RF, Castillo C, Lamb 3B, Tomas LF, Ray P, Ahmed SS

Jason Hammel had a good spring and appears healthy after a bad leg ruined the second half of 2015 for him. Last May 24, he had a pretty good outing in Chase Field -- seven innings, four runs, nine strikeouts. The only real mistake in that one: grooving one to Paul Goldschmidt with a runner on, a two-run homer that was the difference in the game. Overall current D'backs are a small sample size 11-for 48 (.229) against Hammel.

Robbie Ray started against the Cubs September 5, 2015 at Wrigley Field, and allowed just two runs in five innings. The Cubs won the game 2-0, and Dexter Fowler homered for one of the runs. Fowler is the only Cub with more than three at-bats vs. Ray -- he's 3-for-6. The Cubs seem like the kind of team who could hit Ray hard. We'll see.

Today's game is on WGN.

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 Diamondbacks site AZ Snakepit. If you do go there to interact with Diamondbacks 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 2016 Game Thread procedure will be the same as the one used at the end of 2015. Here's how it works.

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.