Chicago Cubs vs. San Diego Padres Preview, Wednesday 5/11 Game 1, 12:05 CT

Two games. A weather forecast that keeps the rain away (hopefully) until well after Game 2 is over.

And the Cubs going to extend a long winning streak. A full day and evening of baseball!

Here's how things will work logistically here today. This preview will be followed by the usual game threads at the usual times. I will post a recap shortly (hopefully) after Game 1 is over. Unless Game 1 runs extraordinarily long, a preview for Game 2 will post at the normal time for a night game, two hours before game time (at 5 p.m. CT). The recap for Game 2 will post as usual for a night game, tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. CT. Heroes & Goats for both games will also post tomorrow morning.

Carl Edwards Jr. will be the 26th man for today's doubleheader.

Got all that? Let's play ball!

Here are today's particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Zobrist 2B, Heyward CF, Bryant RF, Rizzo 1B, Soler LF, Baez 3B, Russell SS, Federowicz C, Hendricks P 

Padres lineup:

Jankowski CF, Myers 1B, Kemp RF, Wallace 3B, Norris C, Dickerson LF, Pirela 2B, Rosales SS, Rea P

Kyle Hendricks was excellent in his last start, six shutout innings (two hits and two walks allowed) against the Nationals last Thursday. Current members of the Padres are hitting .087 (4-for-46) against Kyle with 11 strikeouts. That, along with the good outing last week, hopefully is a good sign for him.

Colin Rea is making his 13th major-league start; he made six last year and has made six this year, with decent results (3.82 ERA). He has never faced the Cubs (during the regular season); the only Cub he's faced is Jason Heyward (1-for-1, a walk). The Cubs did see Rea during spring training this year. He allowed one hit in four innings -- a double by Kris Bryant. But that was spring training; we'll see if things are different now.

Today's first game is on CSN Chicago Plus. It's also on 670 The Score and Sirius/XM 187.

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 Padres site Gaslamp Ball. If you do go there to interact with Padres 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.