Chicago Cubs vs. San Francisco Giants Preview, Sunday 5/22, 7:05 CT

You wouldn't necessarily expect this given the Cubs' great season so far, but it's true.

The Cubs, good as they've been this year, have yet to win the rubber game of a series. Part of this, of course, is because they've won several series before they even got to that third game that would make the difference. But there have been three times so far this season where they've gone into the third game of a series having split the first two: against the Rockies at home, against the Padres at home, and against the Brewers in Milwaukee. Each time the Cubs lost the third game, and the series.

I think it's time to change that tonight, don't you? Also, remember the Cubs have still not lost on consecutive days this year. That streak, I'd like to see continue.

Interesting factoid about Kris Bryant:

#Cubs Bryant hit his 5th HR on the road Saturday in 21st game away from Wrigley. Last season, he hit 5 HRs total in 75 road Gs

— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) May 22, 2016

Here are today's particulars.

Cubs lineup:

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

Sunday Night Baseball! #LetsGo

Game preview: https://t.co/1Lj7gblrfD pic.twitter.com/Uqz9uz314d

— #VoteCubs (@Cubs) May 22, 2016

Giants lineup:

Span CF, Panik 2B, Duffy 3B, Posey C, Belt 1B, Crawford SS, Blanco RF, Bumgarner P, Pagan LF

Kyle Hendricks has his work cut out for him tonight. He's been good this year, but not great, and his last start against the Brewers was a bit shaky. Last year the Giants scored seven runs off him in 11⅓ total innings over two starts. Current members of the Giants roster are a small-sample-size 11-for-36 (.303) against him with one home run (Brandon Belt). No current Giants player has more than six career at-bats vs. Hendricks.

Madison Bumgarner has been very, very good this year, but he's been only the Giants' third-best pitcher (at least by bWAR: Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija are at 1.9, MadBum at 1.2). He really hasn't had any bad starts and he threw a complete game against the Padres in his last outing, striking out 11. He shut down the Cubs pretty well in his only start against them last year, August 27 in San Francisco, allowing just two hits over six innings, striking out 12. Doom? Maybe. Current Cubs are hitting .244 (29-for-119) against Bumgarner with three home runs: one each by Jason Heyward, David Ross and Tim Federowicz.

MadBum looks so clean-cut and sad in that photo. Wonder what that's all about.

Today's game is on ESPN.

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 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 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.