Chicago Cubs vs. Colorado Rockies preview, Thursday 6/6, 1:20 CT

This morning’s notes section is the David Bote Notes section:

• Bote’s game marked the first seven-RBI game by a Cub since Willson Contreras, May 11, 2018 vs. the White Sox (4-for-5, 2 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI).
• Bote is the first Cub to record at least four hits and seven RBI out of the eighth spot in the lineup since Adolfo Phillips, June 11, 1967 (game two) vs. the Mets (4 H, 3 HR, 7 RBI).
• Bote’s fifth-inning homer was the first Cubs homer with at least two runners on base since Albert Almora Jr.’s grand slam, May 22 vs. Philadelphia (the team’s last 27 homers had been solo or two-run shots).
• And, Bote’s seven homers this season establishes a career high for him... and there are 102 games remaining in the 2019 season.

Just a couple more notes — regarding Yu Darvish’s excellent outing Wednesday night:

• Darvish recorded his seventh straight no-decision, becoming just the second Cub since 1908 to record seven straight no-decisions in a single season, joining Steve Trout from June 13-July 19, 1986. Mike Montgomery also did this, spanning the 2016-17 seasons.
• Darvish’s season ERA sits at a season-low 4.88.
• And, Yu retired 10 straight batters in between walks in the first and fourth inning. He left the game to a standing ovation.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

The Rockies lineup was not available at posting time. Please check the BCB Twitter feed for the Rockies lineup.

Jose Quintana, LHP vs. Peter Lambert, RHP

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Jose Quintana’s last start, Saturday against the Cardinals, was interrupted by a long rain delay, so it doesn’t look that great (two runs in four innings). Overall he’s having the season we all hoped he’d have after the trade that brought him to the Cubs almost two years ago.

He has made three career starts vs. the Rockies, just one of those as a Cub: April 22, 2018 in Denver, where he allowed four runs in 5⅓ innings, with seven strikeouts. Charlie Blackmon and Nolan Arenado homered off him that afternoon.

As has been the case for several Cubs starters this year, Q is much better at Wrigley Field (six starts, 2.84 ERA, 1.211 WHIP, one home run in 38 innings) than on the road (six appearances, 5.02 ERA, 1.465 WHIP, seven home runs in 28⅔ innings), so hopefully the home-field advantage will be with the Cubs this afternoon.

This was supposed to be Jon Gray’s start, but the Rockies are pushing him back a day and promoting their No. 4 prospect, Peter Lambert, to start this afternoon. Lambert will be making his major-league debut.

Here are his minor-league numbers. The numbers in Triple-A don’t look very good, but that’s Albuquerque, which is kind of Coors Field on steroids. Before Triple-A, Lambert had thrown pretty well in the Rockies’ system. He was chosen in the second round in 2015, three picks before the Cubs selected Donnie Dewees.

Here’s some more about Lambert.

Today’s game is on NBC Sports 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 2019 Game Thread procedure will be the same as the one used in previous years. 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.