Chicago Cubs vs. San Francisco Giants preview, Friday 6/4, 8:45 CT

News:

Friday notes...

• JOC INFO: Joc Pederson’s “splash hit” home run in last night’s third inning was his second career “splash hit” homer at Oracle Park (also June 12, 2016). That marked the second straight game he’s homered in San Francisco, dating to last season when he was with the Dodgers. Joc’s 402-foot fly out to center to begin Thursday night’s game would have been a home run in 15 of the 30 MLB ballparks, according to Statcast.
• WILLSON! Willson Contreras last night picked off Alex Dickerson at first base for his 19th career pickoff, by far the most by a major league catcher since the start of 2016. Yan Gomes is a distant second with 12.
• SOUTHPAWS: In 16 games against a lefthanded starter, the Cubs have gone 13-3 (.813), tied for the best mark against lefty starters with the White Sox.
• FORGET THOSE FIRST TWO WEEKS: Dating to April 17, Cubs hitters lead the NL and are second in the majors with a .335 on-base percentage, a .439 slugging percentage and a .775 OPS.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Giants lineup:

Jake Arrieta, RHP vs. Scott Kazmir, LHP

USA TODAY Sports

USA TODAY Sports

Jake Arrieta got off to a good start this year, then missed some time with a finger abrasion, and hasn’t been nearly as good since his return.

I am hoping that as time goes by, he’ll get back into that groove he was in during April.

Jake has made seven career starts in San Francisco with a 3.92 ERA and 1.185 WHIP but what you probably all remember is the home run he hit off Madison Bumgarner in the 2016 Division Series.

Of course you’d like to look at that again:

Yes, fun, granted, stipulated, I still would rather pitchers didn’t hit.

For tonight, I just want him to outpitch his opponent, who is...

Scott Kazmir, wow. Remember when I wrote this article suggesting the Cubs should sign him?

Nah, you probably don’t. That was seven and a half years ago in late 2013. (P.S. It would have been a good signing — Kazmir made the AL All-Star team in 2014 and had a solid 1.9 bWAR season.)

Anyway, Kazmir is back after four years out of the big leagues. He made two appearances for the Giants (one start) in May before being placed on the restricted list because he went home to tend to a “personal matter.”

He last faced the Cubs while with the Dodgers May 31, 2016, and threw six one-hit innings with seven strikeouts. Oddly enough, his opponent that day was also Jake Arrieta.

It’s almost impossible to predict what we’ll see from him tonight. The only Cub on the current active roster who’s faced him is Eric Sogard (0-for-3).

The possible good news is that Kazmir is lefthanded and the Cubs have hit LHP much better this year — .788 OPS vs. LHP and .711 OPS vs. RHP. As noted above, they are 13-3 vs. LH starters this year.

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.