Chicago Cubs vs. Chicago White Sox Preview, Wednesday 7/27, 7:05 CT

At one time, the Cubs/White Sox all-time series was tied at 35 wins each.

That was seven years ago after a Sox win on June 27, 2009. Since then it's been all White Sox (even with a four-game Cubs sweep in 2013). The Sox have won 22 of the 36 games between the teams since that 2009 date, although the run differential is close in those games: 138-125 in favor of the Sox, thanks to a few Cubs blowout wins.

The Cubs have led the all-time series only a couple of times, briefly in 1998-99, again in 2008-09.

I think it's time to start turning that around, beginning tonight.

Here are today's particulars.

Cubs lineup:

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

White Sox lineup:

Eaton RF, Anderson SS, Cabrera LF, Abreu 1B, Frazier 3B, Shuck CF, Navarro C, Saladino 2B, Ranaudo P

So far, Jason Hammel's second half can be described as "decent," and even that can be considered a success after his poor second halves in recent years. He's got a 2.45 ERA and 0.909 WHIP in two starts since the All-Star break, with 11 strikeouts in 11 innings. He has not faced the White Sox as a member of the Cubs, oddly enough. Current White Sox are hitting .302 (19-for-63) against him, with Melky Cabrera (5-for-16, two homers) and Justin Morneau (7-for-14, five doubles) having had particular success.

Originally, former Cub Jacob Turner was supposed to start this game for the Sox, but they instead are going with Anthony Ranaudo, who they acquired in May from the Rangers. He will be making his Sox debut. Ranaudo has made 13 career appearances (nine starts) in the big leagues for the Red Sox and Rangers, without much success (6.33 ERA, 1.560 WHIP, 13 home runs allowed in 58⅓ innings). He was drafted by Theo for the Red Sox as a first-round compensation pick (39th overall) in 2010, so the brass here should be familiar with him. He was traded to Texas after Theo left Boston. He has never faced the Cubs and the only Cub he has ever faced is Ben Zobrist (1-for-7).

Today's game is on WGN with Len & JD. For affiliate info in the Illinois/Iowa/Indiana blackout markets, click here. It's also on CSN Chicago with the White Sox announcers. And, there's a national broadcast on ESPN outside the Chicago market. ESPN announcers: Jon Sciambi, Rick Sutcliffe and Doug Glanville.

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 White Sox site South Side Sox. If you do go there to interact with White Sox 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.