Chicago Cubs vs. Pittsburgh Pirates preview, Tuesday 6/20, 6:05 CT

Tuesday notes...

• SHUTTING ‘EM OUT IN PITTSBURGH: Last night’s 8-0 win was the Cubs’ 78th shutout at Pittsburgh since 1901, in 1,191 games there. Only three of those shutouts have been by larger margins: 11-0 in 1908, 10-0 in 1961 and 9-0 in 2021. The Cubs had won four earlier games by 8-0, in 1909, 1922, 1936 and 1989. They had not scored more than six runs in any previous shutout at Pittsburgh while making no more than one extra-base hit, as they did last night.
• MORE ON SHUTOUTS: The shutout Monday was the Cubs’ eighth of the year. They had just 11 all of last year. In recent years, here are the Cubs’ shutout totals: 2021, 8; 2020, 8; 2019, 10; 2018, 18; 2017, 8; 2016, 15; 2015, 21.
• LOTS OF PIRATES RUNNERS, NO RUNS: Monday night’s shutout was achieved despite allowing 11 Pirates to reach base (five hits, six walks). They also had allowed 11 in four of the earlier shutouts, including a 1-0 win in 2018 (seven hits, four walks).They allowed 12 in a 2-0 win in 1916 (eight hits, three walks, one HBP) and in the 8-0 win in 1936 (seven hits, three walks, two safe on errors). On August 17, 2019, the Cubs won 2-0 while allowing 13 runners: just four hits, but six walks, one HBP and two safe on errors.
• DANSBY COMES UP SHORT: Dansby Swanson’s errorless streak ended with a miscue in Monday’s game. That left his streak at 54 games, which is tied for second-best for a shortstop in Cubs history with Don Kessinger, who did that in 1969. The franchise record for a shortstop is 60 games, set by Mick Kelleher from 1976-79. (Kelleher made errors at other positions in that span, but none at shortstop.)

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.

Marcus Stroman, RHP vs. Johan Oviedo, RHP

Here we have another pitching rematch from last week at Wrigley, this one from Thursday, June 15.

Marcus Stroman allowed two runs in the third inning, but completed another good outing, six innings, four hits, two runs, five strikeouts.

Over Stroman’s last six starts: 1.51 ERA, 0.871 WHIP, just one home run allowed in 41⅓ innings.

Johan Oviedo stymied the Cubs for the first four innings and allowed just one run, then they exploded for a five-run fifth, with three of the runs charged to Oviedo.

Another one just like that, please

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

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The 2023 Game Thread procedure will be like last year’s, 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.