Bleed Cubbie Blue - Cubs vs. Brewers Thursday game threadsA Chicago Cubs Fan Community Since February 9, 2005https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47557/cubbieblue.png2017-07-07T10:30:02-05:00http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/rss/stream/156744212017-07-07T10:30:02-05:002017-07-07T10:30:02-05:00Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 85
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<img alt="MLB: Milwaukee Brewers at Chicago Cubs" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cDffiKDXlNNHKRb0i6rQfBTLhVI=/0x0:2739x1826/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/55608791/usa_today_10148451.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>The Brewers had all of the fun yesterday | David Banks-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The Cubs got crushed 11 to 2.</p> <p id="7UkbN3">I was fortunate enough to be away last week and not have to recap last Friday’s game where we actually had a player with a negative score on the hero podium for the first time since I’ve been handling the column. I wondered until I opened Fangraphs this morning if today would be another one of those games. Interestingly, despite how fast this one got lopsided, this was not one of those games. </p>
<p id="avWu1H">Regardless of what WPA says, make no mistake, that was an ugly game. It was a discouraging game. I know from the reaction I got in the game threads yesterday that I’ll get strong disagreements, but this to me has been as disappointing a <a href="https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/">Cubs</a> season as I can ever remember. The obvious response is recency bias. 2004 is probably the closest comparison after that team had gotten so close to getting to <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/world-series">the World Series</a> in 2003. And that team had that great young starting rotation. So that to me is probably pretty similar to this. The thing for me this season is that I expected the bumps and bruises and a string of injuries. I didn’t expect so many guys who should either be in or entering the prime of their careers taking a significant step backwards. And so I think I find this so disappointing, because I find myself walking back expectations for the next few years. Because I don’t believe you can just dismiss 85 games of subpar performances as one big collective fluke.</p>
<p id="lC2oK9">But, I suspect those of you who are regular readers of this column don’t come so much for my thoughts and narratives as the math. And so we’ll look at WPA. The good news is that math always tells you that no matter how bad a game is, it only counts as one in the standings. Today is a new day and can be the start of a winning streak at any time. Even if it is looking less likely all of the time that this team will get hot and take control of the division.</p>
<p id="0LYmEe">As a reminder, the Heroes and Goats themselves are determined by WPA (Win Probability Added — <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/library/misc/wpa/"><strong>here’s a good explanation of how WPA works</strong></a>) and are not in any way subjective. Many days WPA will not tell the story of what happened, but often it can give at least a glimpse to who rose to the occasion in a high leverage moment or who didn’t get the job done in that moment. Also note, for the purposes of Heroes and Goats, we ignore the results of pitchers while they are batting and hitters while they are pitching. With that, we get to the results.</p>
<p id="Jjiier"><strong>Game Chart Thursday, July 7:</strong></p>
<div id="TXYd5Z">
<iframe src="https://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=wins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=2017-07-06&team=Cubs&dh=0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="450" width="450" style="border:1px solid black;"></iframe><br><span style="font-size:9pt;">Source: <a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/wins.aspx?date=2017-07-06&team=Cubs&dh=0&season=2017">FanGraphs</a></span>
</div>
<p id="QxPM05"><strong>THE THREE HEROES:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li id="pefDj6">
<strong>Superhero - </strong><span>Jon Jay</span> (.054). Jon singled leading off the game and then was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs in the third. June 14th to present, Jon is hitting .345/.410/.491 (propped a bit by a BABIP of .415 which is higher than both his season number of .384 and his career number of .343).</li>
<li id="vS1iXd">
<strong>Hero - </strong><span>Albert Almora Jr.</span> (.010). Albert singled in the third inning just in front of Jay. Going back just a little further with Albert, we see that he is hitting .273/.360/.394 June 4th to present. </li>
<li id="CSjXaW">
<strong>Sidekick - </strong>Anthony Rizzo (.007). This is largely based upon the first inning two out double for Anthony. He gave back almost all of that positive when he popped up in the third with runners on the corners and one out.</li>
</ul>
<p id="2A9ya1"><strong>THE THREE GOATS:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li id="I9WCk9">
<strong>Billy Goat - </strong>Mike Montgomery (-.328). There was never a question on this one. Mike had one of the worst starts of his career. By game score, he did have one in 2015 for the <a href="https://www.lookoutlanding.com/">Mariners</a> against the <a href="https://www.overthemonster.com/">Red Sox</a> where he allowed nine earned runs in two and a third. For what it’s worth, he bounced back fairly well from that one and had a six inning three run game the next time out. </li>
<li id="jvoYBG">
<strong>Goat - </strong><span>Kris Bryant</span> (-.087). Kris’ nightmare season with runners in scoring position continues as he grounded into a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded and no outs in the third. He also grounded into a double play in the first after Jay’s single.</li>
<li id="vOFS8g">
<strong>Kid - </strong><span>Ian Happ</span> (-.042). His first two times up yesterday, he made the last out of the inning with runners in scoring position. The other two times he was up, he made the first out of the inning. </li>
</ul>
<p id="rtml1U">I’ll point out here that I realized after I’d already quoted partial season stats for Jay and Almora above that Baseball Reference hasn’t yet updated stats from yesterday’s game, so those samples don't include Thursday's game. </p>
<p id="FZvZxb">With that, let’s take a look at the year to date standings for Heroes and Goats. As a reminder, we award three points for Superhero, two for Hero, and one for Sidekick. And we deduct -3 points for Billy Goat, -2 for Goat and -1 for Kid. Here then are the standings.</p>
<p id="PRYzUe"><strong>Cumulative Standings (</strong><em>Italics indicates no longer with the organization):</em></p>
<ul>
<li id="tcb2Xe">Anthony Rizzo 39</li>
<li id="cVCmCi">
<span>Willson Contreras</span> 17</li>
<li id="CzDhdc">
<span>Wade Davis</span> 11</li>
<li id="GGaMmm">Jon Jay 11</li>
<li id="7uyHAG">Kyle Schwarber 10</li>
<li id="dkIzo0">Kris Bryant 6</li>
<li id="uxrj4B">
<span><em>Miguel Montero</em></span> 6</li>
<li id="Qy5CAK">
<span>Justin Grimm</span> 5</li>
<li id="Tah6Ly">Mike Montgomery 4</li>
<li id="HLw5sF">
<span>Kyle Hendricks</span> 4</li>
<li id="IHpmUP">Felix Pena 3</li>
<li id="OVYtp0">
<span>Tommy La Stella</span> 2</li>
<li id="X3tbvu">
<span><em>Matt Szczur</em></span><em> 2</em>
</li>
<li id="4qCh16">
<span>Brian Duensing</span> 1</li>
<li id="lHwh6f">Ian Happ 0</li>
<li id="QN6qKr">
<span>Mark Zagunis</span> 0</li>
<li id="uq3O9b">
<span>Eddie Butler</span> -1</li>
<li id="AU9aJU">
<span>Seth Frankoff</span> -1</li>
<li id="y9YWOL">Hector Rondon -1</li>
<li id="Thi0SW">Albert Almora Jr. -1</li>
<li id="8CIlaQ">Pedro Strop -2</li>
<li id="zQV8qK">
<span>Victor Caratini</span> -2</li>
<li id="7CSkmv">
<span>Pierce Johnson</span> -3</li>
<li id="Ig5Nhu">Carl Edwards Jr. -4</li>
<li id="EJP0pP">
<span>Jason Heyward</span> -5</li>
<li id="NOETIv">
<span>Brett Anderson</span> -5</li>
<li id="2k71JG">
<span>Jeimer Candelario</span> -5</li>
<li id="wVs43c">Addison Russell -8</li>
<li id="P3fHgK">
<span>Jake Arrieta</span> -9</li>
<li id="63yXlm">Koji Uehara -10</li>
<li id="AIlVEW">
<span>Jon Lester</span> -11</li>
<li id="o9D8L7">Ben Zobrist -15</li>
<li id="29PsXU">
<span>John Lackey</span> -16</li>
<li id="65RUtx">
<span>Javier Baez</span> -23</li>
</ul>
<p id="ILw58X">Today the Cubs open a three game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates to conclude the pre-All Star break schedule. The Pirates come in having won three in a row. Trevor Williams will throw for the Pirates. The Cubs saw him back on June 16 and scored three runs in five innings against him. Over his last seven starts, he has a fairly decent 3.73 ERA though he is only 1-0 over that stretch, so he is usually not still around when the game is decided. The Cubs will send Eddie Butler to the mound. He was the pitcher in that June 16 game and allowed four runs over five and two thirds, but also didn’t figure into the decision. Eddie seems to bounce back with a good start after each of his bad ones, so maybe he’ll bounce back after a clunker last weekend in Cincinnati. </p>
<p id="mPiK76">I’ll be away most of next week during All Star game week, so I’ll most likely be recapping the Pirates series along with the three games in Baltimore to start the second half on July 17. Let’s hope I’ve got four or five wins to talk about by then. </p>
<p id="e5ByIt">As always, we’ll finish with a poll. Yesterday, Ian Happ got 65 percent of the votes for player of the games numbered 79-84. Today we’ll vote on the goat of yesterday’s game.</p>
<div id="WC8gAJ"><div data-anthem-component="poll:526051"></div></div>
<p id="KrwJ84"></p>
<p id="TiRtFE"></p>
<p id="uld7bV"></p>
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2017/7/7/15933710/cubs-heroes-and-goats-game-85Thomas Smith2017-07-06T17:35:02-05:002017-07-06T17:35:02-05:00Brewers 11, Cubs 2: The Federalist pitcher
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<figcaption>David Banks-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>This game was an embarrassment but there were, at least, some laughs in the ninth inning, thanks to Jon Jay.</p> <p id="0BVe1h">Do you suppose the <a href="https://www.brewcrewball.com/">Brewers</a> are now happy that they had to play this rainout makeup game in Chicago this afternoon?</p>
<p id="1UeCUx">It was gorgeous at Wrigley Field, 83 degrees and sunny with light winds off Lake Michigan, and then the <a href="https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/">Cubs</a> played what has to be their ugliest game in what’s been a frustrating season. It was over after a seven-run Brewers third inning which included three consecutive walks by Cubs pitching, including two with the bases loaded.</p>
<p id="L7WxZI"><a href="http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2017_07_06_milmlb_chnmlb_1">The Brewers won 11-2</a>, and the only real entertainment had by Cubs fans was watching outfielder (announced as “lefthander”) <span>Jon Jay</span> pitch the ninth inning:</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8FG9fi6UIAjkexbfAtWcVj37WDg=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8810951/20170706_161656.jpg">
<cite>Al Yellon</cite>
</figure>
<p id="jTkYMV">Look at some of these speedy pitches Jay threw!</p>
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</figure>
<p id="RAN4mt">No, I do not think most of those were curveballs. And 46 miles per hour must be the slowest pitch anyone’s thrown in a big-league game this year. Heck, I can almost throw that fast — last time I tried a speed-pitch game I threw about 40 miles per hour. The hitters must have been laughing so hard at Jay’s “stuff” that they couldn’t help but make outs, though <span>Domingo Santana</span> singled off him. Here’s Jay retiring <span>Yadiel Rivera</span> to end the inning:</p>
<div id="HqbWKk">
<blockquote class="twitter-video">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jon Jay takes to the mound in the 9th for the Cubs, and retires Yadiel Rivera to complete a scoreless frame against the Brewers!!! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ThatsCub?src=hash">#ThatsCub</a> <a href="https://t.co/V2b4spxyUx">pic.twitter.com/V2b4spxyUx</a></p>— TheRenderMLB (@TheRenderMLB) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheRenderMLB/status/883076343478587393">July 6, 2017</a>
</blockquote>
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<p id="4JW3s9">Here’s how that all came about:</p>
<div id="5NfoHJ">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cubs?src=hash">#Cubs</a> Maddon asked Jay if he could pitch in 5th. It was between Jay and La Stella</p>— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) <a href="https://twitter.com/CarrieMuskat/status/883080607869358080">July 6, 2017</a>
</blockquote>
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<p id="KPnduv">Either way, it injected some fun for the maybe 10,000 or so who stuck around out of a capacity crowd at the ol’ ballyard. Jay even got a break from plate umpire Eric Cooper, according to this:</p>
<div id="sdZIzx">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Call helps <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cubs?src=hash">#Cubs</a><br>Strike 1 should be ball 2<br>Top 9 Jay vs Santana<br>6% call same<br>3.1in from edge <a href="https://t.co/ad3LqSMvAt">pic.twitter.com/ad3LqSMvAt</a></p>— Cubs Strike Zone (@CubsUmp) <a href="https://twitter.com/CubsUmp/status/883072910080057348">July 6, 2017</a>
</blockquote>
<script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div>
<p id="NaX62s">A couple more fun facts about Jay’s pitching:</p>
<div id="mUMVII">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jon Jay: first starting leadoff man to pitch since Aaron Miles (Cardinals) 8/3/2010. First <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cubs?src=hash">#Cubs</a> player since Doug Dascenzo 7/2/91</p>— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) <a href="https://twitter.com/ckamka/status/883074679459721222">July 6, 2017</a>
</blockquote>
<script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<div id="P0t4bz">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Last <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cubs?src=hash">#Cubs</a> position player lefty to pitch: Doug Dascenzo (4 times 1990-91) <a href="https://twitter.com/LenKasper">@LenKasper</a></p>— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) <a href="https://twitter.com/ckamka/status/883057508369281025">July 6, 2017</a>
</blockquote>
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<p id="v9IUlN"><span>Willson Contreras</span> produced the only real offensive highlight for the Cubs with this one-out homer in the fourth:</p>
<div id="yMeEWm">
<blockquote class="twitter-video">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Willson Contreras lifts a solo home run to center, his 11th of the season, to cut the Cubs' deficit to 9-2 in the 4th!!! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ThatsCub?src=hash">#ThatsCub</a> <a href="https://t.co/coCEvTerKM">pic.twitter.com/coCEvTerKM</a></p>— TheRenderMLB (@TheRenderMLB) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheRenderMLB/status/883055126096867328">July 6, 2017</a>
</blockquote>
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<p id="8jZjDY">At the time it was 9-2 Brewers and the most optimistic of Cubs fans might have thought that maybe, just maybe, the Cubs could come back and win this one, similar to what they did in <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN200805300.shtml">this 2008 game</a> or <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN198908290.shtml">this 1989 game</a>.</p>
<p id="D4Vwpu">Both of those Cubs teams were 90-plus victory division winners. More and more, it’s looking like this year’s team isn’t going to be. They look good one day, as they did Wednesday, and then have a stinker like this one.</p>
<p id="sn249W"><span>Mike Montgomery</span>, as he has other times, did not trust his stuff. He ran long counts on several hitters, and when he wasn’t walking people, he was getting hit hard. Same for <span>Jack Leathersich</span>, in his Cubs debut, which could be his Cubs swan song, as he was horrific. I’m assuming the Cubs will send him back Friday and bring up someone else for the weekend.</p>
<p id="qVNL1G">If the Cubs are to do anything this year, and numbers-wise there’s still time, with a 4½-game deficit and 77 games remaining, they will need to do some soul-searching as well as exploring the trade market. At this point I’m thinking they shouldn’t do anything unless it helps the club beyond 2017, meaning if they deal for a starting pitcher, it shouldn’t be a rental. Or maybe they shouldn’t be thinking about deals at all. </p>
<p id="cT8a1O">Other than that, I don’t have a whole lot to say about this game. I will have another article coming up soon about <span>Kris Bryant</span> — who, along with <span>Anthony Rizzo</span>, left the game in the sixth — not making it to the All-Star Game, with the selection of <span>Justin Turner</span> in the Final Vote.</p>
<p id="E2Xl32">Friday afternoon, the Cubs open a three-game series against the <a href="https://www.bucsdugout.com/">Pirates</a> at Wrigley. <span>Eddie Butler</span> goes for the Cubs and <span>Trevor Williams</span> for Pittsburgh. Hopefully, the Cubs will play better than they did Thursday. It could, as you surely know, hardly be worse.</p>
<p id="pwYfo1"></p>
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2017/7/6/15931834/cubs-brewers-recap-jon-jay-jack-leathersich-mlb-scoresAl Yellon2017-07-06T15:20:01-05:002017-07-06T15:20:01-05:00Overflow thread 2: Cubs vs. Brewers, Thursday 7/6, 1:20 CT
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mFcx4liw-LcLcUe61Qx1hfJWRWI=/0x0:3954x2636/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/55585881/809406918.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="skh8fD">——</p>
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2017/7/6/15903182/overflow-thread-2-cubs-vs-brewers-thursday-7-6-1-20-ctAl Yellon2017-07-06T14:20:01-05:002017-07-06T14:20:01-05:00Overflow thread 1: Cubs vs. Brewers, Thursday 7/6, 1:20 CT
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HMmXaLsTxwNCaApYrilIUDhxjgg=/0x0:3736x2491/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/55585889/809383226.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="skh8fD">——</p>
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2017/7/6/15903168/overflow-thread-1-cubs-vs-brewers-thursday-7-6-1-20-ctAl Yellon2017-07-06T13:15:02-05:002017-07-06T13:15:02-05:00First pitch thread: Cubs vs. Brewers, Thursday 7/6, 1:20 CT
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_ATtw01Z_qh44j_4m9Yb6XVwsvk=/0x0:3011x2007/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/55545003/usa_today_10122647.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p id="ZO8uR8">Go get ‘em, Mike.</p>
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2017/7/6/15910384/first-pitch-thread-cubs-vs-brewers-thursday-7-6-1-20-ctAl Yellon2017-07-06T11:30:01-05:002017-07-06T11:30:01-05:00Chicago Cubs vs. Milwaukee Brewers preview, Thursday 7/6, 1:20 CT
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-4Mp9x17-TF5o8keIQVcBdbK-3k=/0x203:3882x2791/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/55585777/GettyImages-809380508.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This game seems important.</p> <p>Since the Brewers appear to be the Cubs' main competition in the N.L. Central this year, I have been watching many of their games, mostly via the Brewers broadcast team.</p>
<p>If you haven't seen those games, you have no idea how much the Brewers do <i>not</i> want to play this game. They seem to be still upset over the way the rainout was handled -- they call it the "rainless rainout" and their TV team has been bitching constantly on the air about it.</p>
<p>The Brewers moved up the start time of their game Wednesday night by an hour, to 6:10 CT, in order to give them more time to bus down to Wrigley for the 1:20 p.m. start today. That game ended about 9:15, so figure the Brewers got to their Chicago hotel sometime after midnight. They leave right after today's game to fly to New York to play the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.pinstripealley.com/">Yankees</a> in a weekend series.</p>
<p>Now, I don't know whether this attitude is just from the broadcast crew, or whether the players also feel that way. And in general I usually like the Brewers' TV team of Brian Anderson and Bill Schroeder. But they are off base on this one, and Anderson and Schroeder continued complaining about it during Wednesday night's game.</p>
<p>Schedules don't always work out the way you want them to, and if the Cubs had read the weather the right way during that May weekend, they still would have had a rainout -- they probably should have called off the Friday game, which was played in miserable conditions, and played Saturday.</p>
<p>In any case, the Cubs probably would have liked an off day today too, but here we are. Hopefully the Brewers will be tired out from the quick turnaround from a night game and the Cubs can take this one.</p>
<p id="xd18M6">Here are today’s particulars.</p>
<p id="Yv7Z7W"><a href="https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/">Cubs</a> lineup:</p>
<blockquote>Jay CF, Bryant 3B, Rizzo 1B, Happ 2B, Schwarber LF, Contreras C, Heyward RF, Baez SS, Montgomery P</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Here is today's <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cubs?src=hash">#Cubs</a> starting lineup.<br><br>Game preview: <a href="https://t.co/B3b79IvgSL">https://t.co/B3b79IvgSL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VoteKB?src=hash">#VoteKB</a> <a href="https://t.co/stk3DQbbHE">pic.twitter.com/stk3DQbbHE</a></p>
— #VoteKB (@Cubs) <a href="https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/882975599500963840">July 6, 2017</a>
</blockquote>
<p>
<script charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</p>
<p id="FbwPnv"><a href="https://www.brewcrewball.com/">Brewers</a> lineup:</p>
<blockquote>Villar 2B, Santana RF, Braun LF, Aguilar 1B, Perez 3B, Pina C, Broxton CF, Arcia SS, Davies P</blockquote>
<h2 id="uUA7L0">
<span>Mike Montgomery</span> vs. <span>Zach Davies</span>
</h2>
<div class="c-float-left"> <figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tlXUmYwAcwtmCLfGvWYL4Jjuwxg=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8786917/usa_today_9928103.jpg">
<cite>Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports</cite>
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<cite>Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports</cite>
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<p>At last, Mike Montgomery appears to be getting the consistency he'll need to be a successful starting pitcher. He's gone at least three innings in all of his last three starts, posting a 3.38 ERA and 1.232 WHIP. He's walked only six in 18⅓ innings -- walks have been his biggest issue, and that's a good sign. 66 percent of his pitches have gone for strikes over that span, another good sign.</p>
<p>Montgomery has three relief appearances against the Brewers this year, allowing four runs in eight innings, along with six walks. Obviously, that's going to have to improve today.</p>
<p><span>Zach Davies</span> pitched well over the last two seasons, but this year has been more or less a disaster. He's got a 5.03 ERA and 1.500 WHIP, both career worsts. And that ERA is <i>down</i> from earlier this year -- it was over six until early May.</p>
<p>The Cubs hit him hard <a target="_blank" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIL/MIL201704090.shtml">April 9 at Wrigley Field</a> -- seven hits and five runs in five innings. In fact, Wrigley has not been kind to Davies in his career. In three starts at Wrigley Field, Davies has posted a 6.00 ERA and 1.467 WHIP in 15 innings.</p>
<p>I'd like to see the Cubs give him another pounding today.</p>
<p id="3pjdRd">Today's game is on CSN Chicago. It’s also on MLB Network outside the Chicago and Milwaukee markets.</p>
<p id="y4SIM1"><a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/mediacenter/index.jsp?ymd=20140401#date=7/6/2017">Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.</a></p>
<p id="Xe5URc"><a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2017_07_06_milmlb_chnmlb_1#game=2017_07_06_milmlb_chnmlb_1,game_state=Live">MLB.com Gameday</a></p>
<p id="cOzi2Y"><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/previews/2017/CHN201707060.shtml">Baseball-reference.com game preview</a></p>
<p id="G92wAe"><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/events/523933/pregame">SB Nation game preview</a></p>
<p id="AScVZw">Please visit our SB Nation <a href="https://www.brewcrewball.com/">Brewers</a> site <a href="http://www.brewcrewball.com/">Brew Crew Ball</a>. 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.</p>
<p id="4R9cxt">The 2017 Game Thread procedure will be the same as the one used during 2016. Here's how it works.</p>
<p id="uNrOo7">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).</p>
<p id="Jy7Er2">At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page. The First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads will be published in that stream, as well as the recap. The recap will also live on the front page as a separate post, and at the time I write the recap I will rename the stream "Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week) Game Threads" so you can go back and find every thread related to that particular game.</p>
<p id="F5ehVY">You will also be able to find the preview, First Pitch Thread, all the overflow threads and recap in the box marked "Chicago Cubs Game Threads" at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in <a href="http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/chicago-cubs-game-threads">this section link</a>). They will also appear in the game's StoryStream as noted above.</p>
<p id="pjBR1E">The First Pitch thread will post at five minutes before game time, then an overflow thread at one hour, two hours and 2:45 after the scheduled game time.</p>
<p id="14mqou">Get tickets to Cubs games from our partner StubHub <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stubhub.com%2Fchicago-cubs-tickets%2Fperformer%2F5644%2F%3Fgcid%3DchDIG-_-geoUS-_-genAllTix-_-dt170314-_-cmpEvergreenVoxOrganic-_-mktgrBRAND-_-partVox&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bleedcubbieblue.com%2F2017%2F7%2F6%2F15900852%2Fchicago-cubs-milwaukee-brewers-preview-thursday" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<p id="vngI0a">Discuss amongst yourselves.</p>
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2017/7/6/15900852/chicago-cubs-milwaukee-brewers-preview-thursdayAl Yellon