Chicago Cubs vs. Milwaukee Brewers preview, Monday 8/28, 7:05 CT

Monday notes...

• GOTTA START OFF BETTER: The Cubs have lost the first game of all seven series they have played at home since the All-Star break. They bounced back to win five of those series and split another. The only series they lost was the first, to the Red Sox. They are 25-17 in first games of all series for the season: 10-11 at home, 15-6 on the road. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• MAKING A PLAY FOR PLAYER OF THE MONTH, AGAIN: Cody Bellinger, month of August (three games remaining): .344/.376/.581 (32-for-93) with seven doubles, five home runs, 20 runs scored and 29 RBI. His .957 OPS for August ranks ninth in the N.L. (minimum 100 PA).
• CLOSING THE DOOR: Adbert Alzolay has converted his last 17 save chances since July 5, the most in the majors during that stretch. The 17 straight converted save opportunities is the longest active streak in the N.L. and third-longest streak in the majors, trailing Jordan Romano (21) and Kenley Jansen (20). The Cubs franchise record is 32 straight, set by Wade Davis in 2017.
• CLOSE ONES AND BLOWOUTS: The Cubs had played 10 consecutive games decided by one or two runs before winning by four on Saturday. The nine-run margin of victory Sunday was the Cubs’ biggest since their 16-6 win over the Reds August 2, and it made the team 27-17 in blowouts (games decided by five or more runs).

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Brewers lineup:

Jameson Taillon, RHP vs. Wade Miley, LHP

Jameson Taillon’s Cubs debut, April 2, was against the Brewers and... it did not go well. Trust me. Don’t click on the link.

Generally, since his eight-inning, one-hit start against the Yankees in early July, he’s been pretty good, with a couple of clunkers. Over nine starts since then: 3.98 ERA, 1.135 WHIP. That’ll play.

Most of the current Brewers haven’t faced him much, but he has Carlos Santana’s number: 0-for-16. Christian Yelich is 8-for-20 with a home run off Jamo.

Wade Miley has had more or less the year he had with the Cubs last year, except more of it — 17 starts instead of nine. As he did here, he has missed some time this year with injuries, though overall the Cubs would have been better off re-signing him instead of Drew Smyly.

The Cubs scored four runs in five innings off Miley July 4 in Milwaukee. That included a home run by Dansby Swanson.

Fun fact: These two pitchers have faced each other twice previously: June 29, 2016 when Taillon was with the Pirates and Miley was with the Mariners, and July 12, 2018, again Taillon as a Pirate, Miley in his first stint with the Brewers.

Taillon pitched well both times and Miley did not. Let’s hope we make that 3-for-3 tonight.

Statcast

Statcast

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. You can find out if Marquee is available via a provider in your area here.

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 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.