Chicago Cubs vs. Los Angeles Dodgers preview, Friday 6/25, 9:10 CT

Friday notes...

• ONE MORE NO-HITTER NOTE: Zach Davies last night became just the third Cubs pitcher since 1901 to go at least six no-hit innings, walk five or more and not allow a run. The others: Sam Jones on May 12, 1955 against Pittsburgh and Burt Hooton on April 16, 1972 against Philadelphia, both complete game no-hitters with seven walks allowed in each.
• BEAT L.A.: The Cubs have won their first four games to begin their season series against the Dodgers for the first time since 2008. The team now looks for its first five-game winning streak against the Dodgers since a six-game run, June 29-July 8, 1971.
• GOOD IN THE PINCH: Jake Marisnick last night delivered a pinch-hit RBI single in the seventh inning, and Cubs pinch-hitters enter tonight’s game with five hits in nine at-bats in the team’s last four games since June 20.
• THE HOMERS JUST KEEP ON COMING: The Cubs last night received homers from Javier Báez and Willson Contreras to give the team 102 home runs on the season, third in the NL behind the Giants (111) and Braves (105).

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Dodgers lineup:

Jake Arrieta, RHP vs. Tony Gonsolin, RHP

USA TODAY Sports

USA TODAY NETWORK

Let’s face it, Jake Arrieta has just been bad since the start in Cincinnati April 30 where he had to depart with a finger issue: nine starts, 7.58 ERA, 1.711 WHIP, 12 home runs in 38 innings.

There’s got to be some good still in there — the five really good outings he had in April didn’t come from nowhere.

Perhaps returning to the scene of his first no-hitter will help. (Although, don’t look at this boxscore from his last outing at Dodger Stadium in 2019.)

Just hoping for the best at this point.

Tony Gonsolin has made three starts this year and hasn’t got past the fourth inning in any of them. He’s maxed out at 81 pitches. He missed the first two months of this season with shoulder inflammation, so the Dodgers are probably being careful with him.

Gonsolin has never faced the Cubs; the only Cub who has ever faced him is Rafael Ortega, 0-for-2.

So, your guess is as good as mine for tonight’s matchup.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. Here’s a list of providers currently carrying Marquee.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Dodgers site True Blue LA. If you do go there to interact with Dodgers 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.