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Friday night, the crowd on TV sounded majority Cub, although Miller Park wasn't close to being full. The announced attendance was 28,728.
In looking at tickets available for tonight's game earlier today, very few appeared available except for down the foul lines in the lower deck (and likely because they were pricey; $79 was the listed price on the Brewers website this morning). Nevertheless, I'd expect a crowd closer to 40,000 and again, it should be mostly Cubs fans.
If you're going, be loud in supporting the Cubs!
Here are today’s particulars.
Cubs lineup:
Schwarber LF, Bryant 3B, Rizzo 1B, Zobrist RF, Russell SS, Contreras C, Baez 2B, Hendricks P, Almora CF
.@kylehendricks28 makes his season debut tonight in Milwaukee!
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 8, 2017
Game preview: https://t.co/VpPI9eHdHY pic.twitter.com/dIR5uohF0O
And in case you were wondering:
No Heyward in #Cubs lineup today but that was planned off day because Brewers starting LHP Milone. Heyward is OK after collision Fri night
— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) April 8, 2017
Brewers lineup:
Villar 2B, Thames RF, Braun LF, Shaw 3B, Aguilar 1B, Nieuwenhuis CF, Bandy C, Arcia SS, Milone P
Kyle Hendricks vs. Tommy Milone
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Kyle Hendricks hopes to build on his breakout year in 2016, and is making his 2017 season debut tonight. He had an excellent spring (21⅔ innings, 1.66 ERA, 1.06 WHIP) and last year against the Brewers he posted a 3.22 ERA in four starts (22⅓ innings, 25 strikeouts, only five walks).
Tommy Milone threw two innings in relief in the Brewers' opener against the Rockies this past Monday, allowing three hits and two runs. He has never faced the Cubs in his 130 big-league appearances (118 starts) and the only Cub who has faced him for more than two at-bats is Ben Zobrist (4-for-15, two doubles). This will be the Cubs' first game against a lefthanded starter this year.
Today's game is on CSN Chicago Plus. It’s also being carried on MLB Network (outside the Chicago and Milwaukee markets).
Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.
Baseball-reference.com 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 2017 Game Thread procedure will be the same as the one used during 2016. 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.