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The Cubs have played only nine interleague games as of this morning, the fewest of any team in the major leagues. They've done well so far against A.L. teams: 6-3.
They'll make up for that deficit starting this weekend, when they face the Mariners. Seattle has also done well in its interleague matchups in 2016: 10-4, including a series win over the Cardinals last month in Seattle (for which we thank them!).
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Here are today's particulars.
Cubs lineup:
Coghlan LF, Bryant 3B, Rizzo 1B, Zobrist RF, Russell SS, Heyward CF, Baez 2B, Ross C, Lester P
Mariners lineup:
O'Malley SS, Gutierrez LF, Cano 2B, Cruz RF, Seager 3B, Lee 1B, Martin CF, Iannetta C, Iwakuma P
Jon Lester
vs
Hisashi Iwakuma
Jon Lester was named N.L. Pitcher of the Month for June. In July, he's pretty much been Bizarro Pitcher of the Month, posting a 10.13 ERA and 2.063 WHIP in four starts, and allowed six home runs in 16 innings. Enough of that, please. He last faced the Mariners September 3, 2014, though many of those players are no longer on the Mariners. He has faced quite a few of the current Mariners, who are 53-for-204 (.260) against him. In particular, he's faced Robinson Cano quite a bit -- 18-for-75 (.240), six doubles. Nelson Cruz has homered three times off him in 28 at-bats.
The Cubs seem to face Hisashi Iwakuma every year in spring training, and they did see him last time they were in Seattle, June 28, 2013 (boxscore for amusement only). Current Cubs are a small-sample-size 11-for-32 (.344) against Iwakuma. Ben Zobrist is 4-for-11.
Today's game is on CSN Chicago. It's also being carried by MLB Network outside the Chicago and Seattle markets.
Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation Mariners site Lookout Landing. If you do go there to interact with Mariners 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.