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I had hoped, here, to have some pithy thoughts from my friend and colleague Grant Brisbee of SB Nation's Giants site McCovey Chronicles.
Unfortunately, I never heard back from him after I emailed him asking me about this. I dunno, maybe he's just too excited about the Giants coming within one inning of throwing three straight complete games -- unheard-of in 2016 baseball -- or the fact that they've allowed just one run in each of their last four games, or... well, I just don't know.
So instead of reading something from Grant that was likely going to be funny or clever or filled with pathos, or all three, you'll have to settle for "just the facts" about this series.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
Fun fact
The Giants' current winning streak of eight matches their longest since 2004, when they won 10 straight. They also had eight wins in a row in 2007, 2011 and 2015. Oddly, their longest streak in any of their World Series-winning years was six (2012 and 2014).
Pitching matchups
Friday: Jake Arrieta (7-0, 1.29 ERA, 0.839 WHIP, 2.62 FIP) vs. Jake Peavy (1-4, 7.43 ERA, 1.750 WHIP, 4.77 FIP)
Saturday: Jon Lester (4-2, 1.88 ERA, 0.968 WHIP, 3.14 FIP) vs. Matt Cain (0-5, 5.87 ERA, 1.478 WHIP, 4.49 FIP)
Sunday: Kyle Hendricks (2-3, 3.51 ERA, 1.049 WHIP, 2.73 FIP) vs. Madison Bumgarner (5-2, 2.45 ERA, 1.176 WHIP, 3.03 FIP)
Times & TV channels
Friday: 9:15 p.m. CT, WGN
Saturday: 6:15 p.m. CT, Fox-TV (coverage map)
Sunday: 7:05 p.m. CT, ESPN
Prediction
The Cubs have some favorable pitching matchups in this series, specifically, Friday and Saturday. They don't have to face either of the Giants' two best pitchers so far this year -- Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija. (Too bad. Would have been fun facing Shark, as well as one of the Cubs' biggest longtime nemeses.) Long winning streaks like the one the Giants are currently on tend to run out after a while -- why not now? The Cubs will right the ship with two of three this weekend.
Up next
This tough road trip continues in St. Louis, as the Cubs open a three-game set against the Cardinals Monday night.