Chicago Cubs vs. Miami Marlins preview, Sunday 6/25, 12:10 CT

The Cubs, oddly, did not win their series in Miami in either 2015 or 2016, the last two playoff seasons.

They did win their series in Miami in 2014, the last time they have won a series in Marlins Park, which opened in 2012. All-time the Cubs are just 9-11 in Marlins Park and 45-47 against the Marlins on the road.

Time to start making changes in that, I'd say. A win today, which would produce a series win, would be a great start to this long road trip.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Rizzo 1B, Bryant RF, Happ CF, Russell SS, Montero C, La Stella 3B, Baez 2B, Montgomery P, Jay LF

Here is today's #Cubs lineup for the series finale in Miami.

Game preview: https://t.co/jx6oysTJdZ pic.twitter.com/KBSVvYaz7O

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 25, 2017

The Marlins lineup was not available at the time this preview posted. Please check the BCB Twitter feed

for the Marlins lineup.

Mike Montgomery vs. Edinson Volquez

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Mike Montgomery's last start was the kind of outing we'd been hoping he'd have. He kept his pitch count down (75 in six innings) and walked only one, allowing no runs. He's got the talent and the stuff to do this consistently. He just has to trust his stuff. Hopefully that one was the start of a long run of success.

He had a good outing against the Marlins June 5 at Wrigley Field, when he piggybacked with Eddie Butler to defeat the Fish. Montgomery threw 3⅓ innings and allowed three singles and no walks in that game.

More of this, please.

Edinson Volquez threw a no-hitter against the Diamondbacks June 3, with 10 strikeouts. He followed that up with seven shutout innings against the Pirates.

Since then? Not so much. He didn't make it out of the fifth inning in either of his last two starts, against the Athletics and Nationals, and allowed nine hits and nine walks in 8⅔ total innings. That was Volquez before the no-hitter, too; he had a 4.82 ERA and 1.671 WHIP over his first nine starts this year. So that's the Volquez we hope we get today.

The Cubs used to see Volquez frequently when he was with the Reds and Pirates, but have not faced him since May 29, 2015, when he was with the Royals. Current Cubs are hitting .262 (22-for-84) against him with no home runs.

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

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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.

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Discuss amongst yourselves.