Chicago Cubs vs. Milwaukee Brewers Preview, Thursday 8/18, 1:20 CT

The last time a Cubs team swept a four-game series that also included a doubleheader sweep was in 1984, when they accomplished that feat against the Mets August 6-8 at Wrigley Field, on their way to 96 wins and a division title.

This year's Cubs have higher aspirations than just a division title, of course. And a similar sweep of this series could help send them along the way there.

With a chance of rain Thursday afternoon (hopefully, scattering itself away from Wrigley Field), you'll need the handy WGN-TV weather radar GIF:

Here are today's particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Szczur CF, Bryant 3B, Rizzo 1B, Zobrist RF, Russell SS, Soler LF, Contreras C, Baez 2B, Arrieta P

Brewers lineup:

Villar SS, Gennett 2B, Braun LF, Perez 3B, Carter 1B, Nieuwenhuis CF, Maldonado C, Flores RF, Davies P

Jake Arrieta struggled a bit with command in his previous start this year vs. the Brewers, April 28 at Wrigley Field. He walked four in five innings, but still allowed just one run. That was a cold, miserable afternoon; weather conditions will be better for this one. Since the All-Star break Jake has a 2.14 ERA and 0.832 WHIP in five starts covering 33⅔ innings.

The Cubs couldn't do much with Zach Davies July 23 in Milwaukee. They had just two singles and an Anthony Rizzo double in 6⅓ innings. Since that outing Davies has a 4.50 ERA and 1.333 WHIP in four starts, so hopefully the Cubs can have better results against him this afternoon.

Today's game is on CSN Chicago.

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 Brewers site Brew Crew Ball. If you do go there to interact with Brewers 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.