Chicago Cubs vs. Colorado Rockies Game 2 preview, Wednesday 8/25, 5:30 CT

Patrick Wisdom’s three-run homer that won Game 1 for the Cubs was utterly predictable.

Tiring lefty on the mound for the Rockies, RH reliever ready, Wisdom crushes lefthanders and he did so with style:

Can the Cubs sweep a doubleheader and the series? They do have a DH sweep against the Dodgers earlier this year, and their last series sweep was of the Cardinals at Wrigley in mid-June.

Stay tuned! More Cubs baseball to come.

Here are all the particulars for Game 2.

Cubs lineup:

Rockies lineup:

Justin Steele, LHP vs. German Marquez. RHP

USA TODAY Sports

USA TODAY NETWORK

I wrote this short preview of Justin Steele for Tuesday’s rainout, and ICYMI... here it is again!

Justin Steele has made two starts since his recall from Triple-A Iowa. One was pretty good, the other, not so much.

He threw 70 pitches the first time, 82 the next, so perhaps he can be stretched out to 90 or so tonight, and maybe throw six innings.

He has never faced the Rockies or anyone on their active roster, so there’s that, anyway.

Statcast

ince Tuesday’s game was rained out, but not till after the preview posted, you get to read all this info about German Marquez again!

Marquez’ overall numbers are decent, but since the All-Star break: six starts, 5.19 ERA, seven home runs allowed in 34⅔ innings.

This seems to be the case for almost all the Rockies starters: Marquez is much better at home (3.13 ERA in 15 starts, 89 innings) than on the road (4.81 ERA in 10 starts, 58 innings). This goes a long way toward explaining the vast difference between their home record and road record.

Marquez last faced the Cubs in 2019, but as most of those players are gone, those games have little predictive value. David Bote is 3-for-6 with two homers off Marquez, for whatever that’s worth.

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.