Chicago Cubs vs. Milwaukee Brewers preview, Tuesday 6/29, 7:10 CT

Tuesday notes...

• THAT 10-RUN INNING: Monday was the first time the Cubs had allowed 10 or more runs in an inning since July 9, 2017, a 14-3 loss to the Pirates at Wrigley Field. The Cubs were 5½ games out of first place and 43-45 after that loss. They won the NL Central that year anyway.
• ZACH DAVIES’ TRAVELS: Zach Davies has a 1.76 ERA (six earned runs in 30⅔ innings) in his last six road starts since May 1. In those six outings he has held opponents to a .215 BA (23-for-107) and a .318 SLG. More on Davies below.
• WORDS OF WISDOM: Patrick Wisdom reached 11 homers on the season, becoming the first Cubs rookie to reach 11 long balls prior to July 1 since Geovany Soto hit 13 homers entering July 1 of the 2008 campaign en route to winning the NL Rookie of the Year Award that year. Wisdom leads all NL rookies with 11 home runs this season, and ranks third among major league rookies, trailing Adolis Garcia (20) and Ryan Mountcastle (14). Wisdom’s 1.039 OPS leads all rookies (minimum 80 PA).
• CUB POWER: The Cubs are the lone major league team with six players hitting at least 10 homers this season. Javier Báez (18), Kris Bryant (15), Joc Pederson (11), Willson Contreras (12), Patrick Wisdom (11) and Anthony Rizzo (10).

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Insert “other split squad” joke here. Kris Bryant has a “scheduled day off” (during this series!?!?!) and Anthony Rizzo’s back is still bothering him.

Brewers lineup:

Define “fun,” Brewers Twitter account.

Zach Davies, RHP vs. Brandon Woodruff, RHP

This ought to be interesting. Zach Davies is coming off six no-hit innings against the Dodgers, and despite a bad outing vs. the Marlins before that, he’s got a 2.69 ERA and 1.177 WHIP in 11 starts since May 1. That’s very, very good, and the fact that he shut down a good Dodgers lineup could be a good sign for tonight.

This will be Davies’ first start against the team for whom he pitched from 2015-19. Christian Yelich and Kolten Wong are the only Brewers hitters who have more than two career PA against Davies and combined, they are 4-for-28 (.143) against him, and Wong isn’t in tonight’s lineup.

This matchup is borderline unfair. Brandon Woodruff started against the Cubs in all three series the teams played in April, and in those three starts combined: 19 innings, six hits allowed, three walks allowed, one run (0.47 ERA) and 20 strikeouts.

Given the current state of the Cubs offense, that does not bode well at all.

Woodruff, though, has shown signs of being mortal in June. In four June starts he has a 3.75 ERA and 0.958 WHIP and has given up six home runs in 24 innings.

That’s about all the hope the Cubs have, at this point. Maybe tonight is the night the offense gets untracked.

Statcast

Statcast

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

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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.