Chicago Cubs vs. Milwaukee Brewers preview, Sunday 8/28, 1:10 CT

Sunday notes...

• IT’S THE STARTERS: This month, Cubs starters have a 3.24 ERA (48 earned runs in 133⅓ innings).
• MORE AUGUST NUMBERS: The Cubs are 14-12 in August with four games remaining in the month, so splitting the four (or better) will clinch the Cubs’ first winning calendar month since May 2021.
• WEIRD SPLITS: The Cubs are 42-39 against the NL Central and NL East, but just 13-33 against NL West and AL teams. Games remaining (35 total): 17 vs. NL Central, nine vs. NL East, six vs. NL West, three vs. AL.
• HE’S HOT: Seiya Suzuki, last 10 games since August 19: .344/.432/.563 (11-for-32), four doubles, a home run, four walks, two stolen bases.
• HE’S NOT: Rowan Wick, last six outings since August 16: 11.81 ERA, 2.813 WHIP, four HR allowed in 5⅓ innings, two blown saves.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Brewers lineup:

Mitchell, a first-round draft pick in 2020, is making his major-league debut.

Adrian Sampson, RHP vs. Eric Lauer, LHP

USA TODAY NETWORK

USA TODAY NETWORK

Adrian Sampson threw a clunker against the Cardinals last Tuesday at Wrigley Field, his only really bad start this year. He got hit hard even when getting outs and allowed two home runs in less than four innings.

He was better July 6 against the Brewers in Milwaukee — one run in 5x innings, no walks, five strikeouts. I’d take one of those this afternoon.

Eric Lauer has a 2.12 ERA and 1.059 WHIP in three starts against the Cubs this year, covering 17 innings. That’s significantly better than his overall mark in 2022.

He hasn’t faced the Cubs since July 4 and I think you’d agree the Cubs are a better team now than they were then. Lauer has been good in August — 2.16 ERA in four starts — and held the Dodgers scoreless for five innings in his last start August 22, so the Cubs will have a tough task this afternoon.

Statcast

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 Brewers site Brew Crew Ball. If you do go there to interact with Brewers 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 2022 Game Thread procedure will be like last years, 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.