Chicago Cubs vs. Milwaukee Brewers Preview, Wednesday 9/7, 7:10 CT

Since the Cubs didn't get to the 90-win plateau last night, I thought I'd repost the 90-win numbers from yesterday's preview.

90 wins.

Since the Cubs' last National League pennant in 1945, they have won 90 or more games six times: 1969, 1984, 1989, 1998, 2008 and 2015.

That's it. Six times in 70 seasons from 1946-2015. (The 2003 and 2007 Cubs teams that won the N.L. Central didn't get to 90 wins.)

If the Cubs win tonight, not only will they reach the 90-win plateau, but they would accomplish something else.

It would be the earliest any Cubs team has won 90 games since 1929, when they won their 90th game in 133 decisions (90-43, actually the 137th game, as they had four ties up to that time in the season).

And, they would win yet another series.

Here are today's particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Fowler CF, Bryant 3B, Rizzo 1B, Zobrist 2B, Russell SS, Coghlan LF, Heyward RF, Contreras C, Montgomery P

Here is tonight's #Cubs lineup for the finale in Milwaukee.

Game preview: https://t.co/BKkWIhRAjL #LetsGo pic.twitter.com/JHpXZ3spXW

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 7, 2016

Brewers lineup:

Villar 3B, Broxton CF, Braun LF, Perez 2B, Carter 1B, Santana RF, Arcia SS, Pina C, Garza P

I'm going to ignore Mike Montgomery's first Cubs appearance, which was July 23 at Miller Park, because he allowed a home run to the first batter he faced (Kirk Nieuwenhuis). Instead, have a look at the two-inning scoreless relief appearance he had against them in the first game of a doubleheader August 16 at Wrigley Field. Montgomery has to manage the walks better; since he entered the rotation he has nine walks in 13⅓ innings. That isn't good.

Matt Garza was the Cubs' opponent in that doubleheader game mentioned above. The Cubs touched him up for five hits and three runs in five innings, which was enough to win. Since that game Garza has made one bad start (vs. the Mariners), one start in which he gave up five runs, all unearned (vs. the Pirates) and one good start (vs. the Cardinals). Which Garza do we see tonight? Who knows?

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.