On The Horizon: Cubs vs. Giants series preview

The Giants have been a very odd team the last two years after winning a surprising 106 games in 2021. Last year they finished exactly at .500 — and had to win 12 of their last 16 to do that.

This year they were 32-32 after the Cubs took the first two games of a series in San Francisco in June, then the Giants ran off 10 straight wins. Another seven-game streak followed in July and they peaked at 13 games over .500 (54-41) and got to within 1½ games of the first-place Dodgers July 18.

Since then they are 16-26. Coincidentally — and yes, it is, since the Cubs and Giants haven’t met in that time frame — that’s the Cubs’ best run of the year at 29-14. And the Giants just lost three in a row to the Padres and got outscored 17-4.

For more on the Giants, check out our SB Nation Giants site McCovey Chronicles.

Fun fact

This is the 141st season that the Cubs and Giants have played each other.

During the first 47, 1883-1939, each team won 562 games.

During the past 57, 1967-2023, the Giants have won only two more than the Cubs, 275-273.

But in the 27 from 1940-66, the Giants won 71 more, 322-251.

So the Giants lead overall by 73 wins, 1,159-1,086. The Cubs have a .530 winning percentage at home against the Giants, but are just .437 on the road.

(Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)

Probable pitching matchups

Monday: Justin Steele, LHP (15-3, 2.69 ERA, 1.174 WHIP, 3.09 FIP) vs. Logan Webb, RHP (9-11, 3.49 ERA, 1.098 WHIP, 3.27 FIP)

Tuesday: Kyle Hendricks, RHP (5-7, 3.59 ERA, 1.133 WHIP, 3.87 FIP) vs. TBD

Wednesday: Jordan WIcks, LHP (2-0, 1.80 ERA, 1.100 WHIP, 3.36 FIP) vs. TBD

NOTE: At the time of this series preview posting, the Giants did not have a starter listed for Tuesday or Wednesday. The last time they went through their rotation after Webb, Jakob Junis opened for Sean Manaea, then Tristan Beck opened for Alex Wood. The Giants have used openers a lot this year and I’d expect that to continue.

Times & TV channels

Monday: 1:20 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network, MLB Network (outside the Cubs and Giants market territories)

Tuesday: 6:40 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network, TBS (outside the Cubs and Giants market territories)

Wednesday: 1:20 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network

Prediction

The Cubs took two of three from the Giants in San Francisco — at a time when they weren’t playing particularly well, and Cody Bellinger was not in the lineup.

The Cubs have three good pitchers going in this series. The Giants are under .500 as a road team (32-36), and are 4-11 on the road since the beginning of August.

The Cubs will take two of three.

Up next

The Cubs host the Arizona Diamondbacks in a four-game series beginning Thursday evening at Wrigley Field.