Chicago Cubs vs. Los Angeles Angels preview, Wednesday 6/7, 8:38 CT

Wednesday notes...

• A NOTE ON RUN SCORING: On May 10, the Cubs beat the Cardinals, 10-4. They have not won a game since then in which they gave up more than two runs. In their eight wins, they have allowed just 12 total runs: 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 0, 1, 1 and 1. In their 15 losses, they have surrendered 118 runs, an average of nearly eight per game. They gave up 2 in one loss, 4 in another and at least 5 in all the rest. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• INTERLEAGUE NOTES: The Cubs are 10-9 against American League teams this season and 226-228 (.498) all-time against the A.L. since interleague play began in 1997. The team was 6-14 (.300) in interleague play last year. The last time the Cubs had a winning record vs. A.L. teams was 2020, when they went 12-8 in the abbreviated 60-game season.
• THE WALK WATCH: The Cubs rank third in MLB with 228 walks, which is 3.8 per game. That’s a pace for 616. The franchise record is 656, set in 2016.
• HAPPY CLIMATE: Julian Merryweather, last 15 games since April 29: 1.15 ERA, 1.277 WHIP, 1.88 FIP, .207 opponents BA, 23 strikeouts in 15⅔ innings.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Angels lineup:

Jameson Taillon, RHP vs. Jaime Barria, RHP

Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Jameson Taillon had a really good outing Saturday night against the Padres and, of course, we are all hoping he can build on that one.

He started twice against the Angels last year. One was really good and the other... not so much.

Shohei Ohtani is 2-for-8 vs. Taillon, both home runs.

Just to show you how much the Angels fly under the radar for most of us as Cubs fans, I had never heard of him before now... only to find out he’s pitched in 113 games (58 starts) for them since 2018. Well. You learn something new every day!

Anyway, Barria has made 11 appearances this year (two starts). Apart from one bad outing against the Mariners in April, he’s been pretty good this year. He has never faced the Cubs and only a couple of current Cubs have ever faced him. Trey Mancini is 3-for-7, for whatever that’s worth.

Statcast

Statcast

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

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit the Angels site Crashing The Pearly Gates. If you do go there to interact with Angels 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 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.