Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals simulated game, Friday 4/10, 3 p.m. CT

This is a brief homestand consisting of a three-game series against the Cardinals. The Cubs begin it coming off a 5-3, 11-inning win over the Pirates Thursday. That completed a four-game sweep of the Bucs and gave the Cubs a seven-game winning streak and an 11-2 record. They lead the Cardinals, who are in third place at 7-6, by four games. The Brewers are 7-5 and half a game ahead of St. Louis in second place. Here are the standings for all MLB’s divisions:

And, here are the league leaders entering Friday’s action:

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 14 of the 2020 season, Cubs vs. Cardinals at Wrigley Field, the first of a three-game series.

Jon Lester will start for the Cubs. Kwang-Hyun Kim will start for the Cardinals. Kim was a FA signing by the Cardinals last winter, he’s making his first-ever start vs. the Cubs.

Today’s lineups:

Cubs

Bryant 3B, Rizzo 1B, Baez SS, Contreras C, Bote 2B, Souza LF, Happ RF, Almora CF, Lester P

Cardinals

Wong 2B, Edman SS, Goldschmidt 1B, Carpenter 3B, Molina C, O’Neill LF, Thomas CF, Bader RF, Kim 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.