Chicago Cubs vs. Pittsburgh Pirates simulated game, Tuesday 3/31, 3 p.m. CT

The Cubs crushed the Pirates 11-3 in the simulated Wrigley Field home opener, their third consecutive win. Javier Baez, Anthony Rizzo and Kyle Schwarber all homered for the Cubs. Rizzo’s was a grand slam that put the game away in the bottom of the eighth. Here are some more details from Monday’s sim game:

Here are the Cubs’ game results so far. They’re 3-1 in the early going and have scored 33 runs in their last three games:

And here are the N.L. Central standings through Monday. The sim Cubs begin today alone in first place:

As time goes by, we’ll post the standings for the entire NL and AL.

Here at BCB, we are going to play simulated games for every game on the Cubs 2020 schedule via MLB The Show 20. This will continue until the actual schedule begins, or we get some clarity on what’s actually going to happen with baseball this year.

Here is the complete BCB Mediacenter where all our BCB simulated games will be located. You can watch previous games which are all archived there, but please note: We won’t have the actual link to the live broadcast of today’s specific game until it starts. At that time, Duane will drop the direct link into the comments to this post around 3 p.m CT. Until then you can use the link in this paragraph as a guide to where to find the game. All of our simulated games will begin at 3 p.m. CT.

Here are today’s particulars.

This is Game 5 of the 2020 season, Cubs vs. Pirates at Wrigley Field, second of a three-game series.

Tyler Chatwood will start for the Cubs. Mitch Keller will start for the Pirates.

Today’s lineups:

Cubs

Bryant 3B, Rizzo 1B, Baez SS, Schwarber LF, Contreras C, Heyward RF, Happ CF, Kipnis 2B, Chatwood P

Pirates

Newman SS, Frazier 2B, Reynolds LF, Bell 1B, Moran 3B, Polanco RF, Stallings C, Dyson CF, Keller P

There won’t be any traditional-style “recaps” of these games. Duane will post some clips and boxscores in his Cub Tracks and Baseball history unpacked posts the morning after each game, so we can track this simulated season as it unfolds. We’ll post the standings as each day goes by.

A note on the headline here, because I know you’re going to ask: This is a real thread. The game is what is simulated.

Looking to join in on the fun? If so, you can get your own copy of MLB The Show. Here’s where you can order the game.

Enjoy, and discuss amongst yourselves.