Chicago Cubs vs. Los Angeles Dodgers preview, Sunday 6/27, 6:08 CT

Sunday notes:

• MAGIC NUMBER 10: Anthony Rizzo yesterday hit his 10th homer of the season, giving him 10 seasons of at least 10 home runs since 2012. he is just the seventh Cub with at least 10 10-homer seasons. The others: Ernie Banks (17), Billy Williams (14), Ron Santo (13), Sammy Sosa (12), Gabby Hartnett (12) and Ryne Sandberg (11).
• DON’T TRY TO RUN ON WILLSON: Willson Contreras yesterday threw out the Dodgers Chris Taylor attempting to steal third base and also picked him off at third base. Since the start of 2016, Contreras leads the majors with 22 catcher pickoffs, well ahead of Yan Gomes, who is second with 12.
• HEY-HEY, J-HEY! Jason Heyward has gone 7-for-9 (.778) with three runs, a double and three walks in the first three games of this Dodgers series, reaching safely in 10 of 12 plate appearances.
• LOTS OF POWER FROM LOTS OF PLACES: The Cubs are the only major league team with six players hitting at least 10 homers this season. Javier Báez has hit 17 homers, followed by Kris Bryant (15), Joc Pederson (11), Willson Contreras (12), Anthony Rizzo (10) and Patrick Wisdom (10).

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Dodgers lineup:

Adbert Alzolay, RHP vs. Clayton Kershaw, LHP

USA TODAY Sports

USA TODAY NETWORK

Adbert Alzolay threw five solid innings against the Dodgers May 5 at Wrigley Field. He allowed two runs (one on a homer by Max Muncy) and struck out seven.

Alzolay had been really good with walks this year until the game in San Diego where a blister forced him out of the game and eventually to the injured list. He walked five in that game, nearly one-third of his season total of 17.

Personally, I’d take another outing like the one vs. the Dodgers at Wrigley Field in toinght’s contest.

The Cubs beat up on Clayton Kershaw May 4 at Wrigley Field, scoring four runs in the first inning and knocking him out of the game. He threw 39 pitches in that inning.

Kershaw’s last five starts haven’t been all that great, either: 4.50 ERA, 1.233 WHIP, five HR allowed in 30 innings. Kershaw’s still a good pitcher, don’t get me wrong, but he is not quite the same guy who won three Cy Young Awards from 2011-14. He can be hit, and as I pointed out yesterday, Cubs hitters seem to like facing southpaws this year.

Statcast

Statcast

Today’s game is on ESPN.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

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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.