Chicago Cubs vs. Pittsburgh Pirates preview, Sunday 9/5, 1:20 CT

Sunday notes...

• STREAKING: The Cubs have a chance to sweep the four-game series against the Pirates this afternoon. The last time any Cubs team swept a four-game set was August 23-26, 2018 against the Reds at Wrigley Field. Winning six in a row would also match the team’s longest 2021 winning streak, accomplished May 23-29 against the Cardinals, Pirates and Reds.
• WHAT A RELIEF: The Cubs bullpen has allowed one earned run in their last five games (26⅔ IP) and owns a 1.80 ERA (six earned runs in 30 innings) over the last seven.
• HE’S HOT: Rafael Ortega, last seven games: .308/.321/.615 (8-for-26) with two doubles, a home run and eight RBI.
• SCHWINDY CITY UPDATE: Frank Schwindel, last 12 games: .360/.396/.700 (18-for-50) with a triple, five home runs, 11 runs scored and 10 RBI.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

The Pirates lineup was not available at posting time. Please check the BCB Twitter feed for the Pirates lineup

Zach Davies, RHP vs. Wil Crowe, RHP

USA TODAY Sports

USA TODAY NETWORK

Zach Davies, last four starts: 3.00 ERA, 1.000 WHIP. That sounds good, but also: six home runs allowed in 21 innings. That’s not good.

Davies has a 5.65 ERA and 1.465 WHIP in three starts against the Pirates this year. Somehow, the Cubs won two of those three games.

That’s all I’ve got, other than to say I’m glad we are in the final few weeks of Davies’ tenure as a Cub.

Statcast

Wil Crowe since the All-Star break: eight starts, 4.62 ERA, eight home runs in 39 innings. Which doesn’t sound great, but it’s better than his pre-ASB numbers: 6.05 ERA, 12 home runs in 50 innings.

Crowe has faced the Cubs three times this year (two starts, one relief outing) but those guys are mostly gone. No current Cub has more than two at-bats against him.

So, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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

Please visit our SB Nation Pirates site Bucs Dugout. If you do go there to interact with Pirates 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.