Chicago Cubs vs. San Diego Padres preview, Monday 6/7, 9:10 CT

Today’s roster move: Here

Monday notes...

• HEY, THESE GUYS ARE GOOD: The Cubs have the best record in the NL since April 29 and is second in the majors with a 23-12 (.657) record, trailing only the Rays (25-11/.694).
• WINNING THE CLOSE ONES: The Cubs have played 31 games decided by two or fewer runs (18-13), tied for second-most in the majors — again, trailing the Rays (33 such games).
• MORE WISDOM: Patrick Wisdom has six home runs in his last seven games, a feat accomplished by just five other Cubs since 2004: Ian Happ, August 29-September 5 of last season; Derrek Lee in August-September of 2009; Alfonso Soriano in both 2007 and 2008; Aramis Ramirez in both 2005 and 2006; and Moises Alou in 2004.
• PITCHING NOTE: Adbert Alzolay on Wednesday allowed one run in five innings on three hits and one walk while striking out seven, matching a season high. He’s allowed three or fewer runs in nine straight starts, the longest streak by a Cubs starter in a single season since Cole Hamels had a nine-game run in August and September 2018. More on Adbert below.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Padres lineup:

Adbert Alzolay, RHP vs. Ryan Weathers, LHP

USA TODAY Sports

USA TODAY NETWORK

Adbert Alzolay threw five strong innings against the Padres last Wednesday at Wrigley Field, allowing three hits and one run, with seven strikeouts.

His last seven starts: 2.95 ERA, 0.908 WHIP, six walks and 41 strikeouts in 39⅔ innings.

The Cubs seem to be managing his workload pretty well. He’s averaging 83 pitches per start and has gone over 94 just once.

Keep up the great work!

The Cubs hit Ryan Weathers pretty hard last Tuesday at Wrigley Field, scoring four runs in five innings. Willson Contreras and Patrick Wisdom both homered off Weathers. It was the first time in his MLB career (all this season, 12 appearances, seven starts) where Weathers had allowed more than two runs.

As is the case with the Cubs and Alzolay, it appears the Padres are trying to manage Weathers’ workload. Last Tuesday was also just the second time he had thrown more than 79 pitches or pitched past the fourth inning.

So, game plan: Keep attacking early.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. Here’s a list of providers currently carrying Marquee. ESPN is also carrying this game (outside the Cubs and Padres market territories).

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Padres site Gaslamp Ball. If you do go there to interact with Padres 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.