Chicago Cubs vs. Milwaukee Brewers preview, Sunday 4/25, 1:20 CT

Sunday notes:

• ENJOY YOUR DAY: Happy 29th birthday to Trevor Williams.
• JAKE IS GOOD: Jake Arrieta has limited the Brewers to a .194 average (83‐for‐428), the lowest mark by any opposing pitcher (minimum 460 batters faced), just ahead of Nolan Ryan who limited Milwaukee to a .195 batting average in 29 games. Kerry Wood is third, holding the Brewers to a .198 average. More on Jake below.
• BREAKING EVEN: The Cubs are at .500 for the fifth time this season (also 1‐1, 3‐3, 4‐4 and 9‐9), and today play their sixth rubber match of 2021 (1‐4 thus far in deciding games, dropping the last four after winning their first of the season, April 4 vs. Pittsburgh).
• SEE YA LATER: Today is the Cubs’ ninth 2021 game against Milwaukee, representing 43 percent of the Cubs first 21 games to begin the season. Just three previous times have the Cubs played nine games against an opponent quicker to begin a season: nine of the Cubs’ first 17 games of 1920 were against the Reds, nine of the team’s first 18 games of 1914 were against the Cardinals and nine of their first 20 games in 1913 were against the Reds. After today the Cubs won’t face the Brewers again until the last week of June, and not at Wrigley again until August. (H/T: Ed Hartig)
• THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: The Cubs have hit .288 (78‐for‐271) with 15 home runs and 60 runs scored in the first nine games of this homestand, including a .342 average (27‐for‐79) with runners in scoring position. Prior to this homestand, the Cubs batted .093 (7‐for‐75) with RISP in the season’s first 12 games.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Brewers lineup:

Jake Arrieta, RHP vs. Brandon Woodruff, RHP

USA TODAY Sports

USA TODAY NETWORK

Jake Arrieta has been the Cubs’ most consistent starter so far this year. All four of his starts are at least in the “good” category and two have been very good.

He started against the Brewers April 14 in Milwaukee and allowed three runs in five innings in a game the Cubs eventually lost 8-0. It’s the only one of his four starts that the Cubs lost. Travis Shaw homered off him.

He’ll need to be better today, as Brandon Woodruff has been outstanding all year, but especially in his two starts vs. the Cubs: 13 innings, four hits, one run, 14 strikeouts, one controversial HBP of Willson Contreras. The Cubs and Brewers are still 1-2 in most batters being hit (17 and 16, respectively) and the Cubs have hit the most opposing batters (16). The Brewers are tied for fourth in the latter category (13).

Four batters have been hit in this series, three Brewers by Cubs pitchers, one Cub (Jake Marisnick) by a Brewers hurler (Angel Perdomo).

Personally, I’m hoping this is the game where the Cubs hit Woodruff, and I don’t mean with a baseball, I mean with their bats hitting his pitches.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. Here’s a list of providers currently carrying Marquee. Pat Hughes will call play-by-play for today’s game on Marquee, filling in for Boog Sciambi. It will be the first time Pat will call a Cubs game on TV.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

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 2021 Game Thread procedure will be a bit different than previous years. It will be similar to what we’ve used for Spring Training.

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, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game, including the First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread, as well as the recap when it’s published. The recap will also live on the front page as a separate post.

You will also be able to find the preview, First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread in the box marked “Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

The First Pitch thread will post at five minutes before game time, then an overflow thread at 90 minutes after the scheduled game time.

Discuss amongst yourselves.