Chicago Cubs vs. San Francisco Giants preview, Thursday 6/3, 8:45 CT

Thursday notes...

• HOME VS. ROAD: The Cubs have played just 24 road games this season, tied for third-fewest in the majors. The Giants are almost the reverse, having played only 23 home games. The Cubs are 11-13 on the road, San Francisco 15-8 at home.
• DEFEATING THE GOOD TEAMS: The Cubs are 14-9 (.609) against teams with a record at or above .500 this season, the best mark in the NL and second-best in the majors behind only the Astros (17-10/.630).
• FIRING BLANKS: Dan Winkler tossed two shutout innings yesterday to extend his scoreless streak to 18 innings, the second-longest active streak in the majors behind Kendall Graveman (22 innings, currently on the IL).
• CLOSE CALLS: Tuesday night’s one-run victory was the Cubs’ 21st one-run game of the season, tied for the most in the majors with the Mets. The Cubs are 12-9 in one-run contests, and the 12 victories are tied for second-most in the majors (with the Mets) behind the Mariners (13-5).

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Giants lineup:

Also of interest:

Zach Davies, RHP vs. Anthony DeSclafani, RHP

USA TODAY Sports

USA TODAY NETWORK

Zach Davies has just completed an excellent May: six starts, 1.72 ERA, 1.277 WHIP, just one home run allowed in 31⅓ innings.

His last start vs. the Giants was June 13, 2019, when he allowed one run (unearned) in six innings. Many of the Giants in that game aren’t with the team anymore.

Current Giants are a small-sample-size 14-for-55 (.255) against Davies with no home runs and 12 strikeouts.

Hello, old friend! Anthony DeSclafani made 12 career starts vs. the Cubs as a member of the Reds and posted a 3.91 ERA and 1.232 WHIP.

Current Cubs are hitting .297 (27-for-91) against him with nine home runs, three by Joc Pederson, who’s 6-for-11 against him.

DeSclafani’s season numbers (3.56 ERA, 1.154 WHIP) are pretty good, but they would be even better if he had not just been torched twice by the Dodgers, who have scored 12 runs off him this year in just 7⅓ innings (14.73 ERA, 14 hits, seven walks, .400 opponents BA). Perhaps the Cubs could do the same tonight.

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 Giants site McCovey Chronicles. If you do go there to interact with Giants 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.