Sunday notes:
- SPLITTING THE DIFFERENCE: This is the 27th of the Cubs’ 47 series in which they have split the first two games. There was no third game in one series. In the others, the Cubs won the third game 15 times and lost 11 times. At home, they are 6-4. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
- MAGIC NUMBERS: The Cubs’ magic number to clinch a postseason spot is 12, and their magic number to clinch the top wild card spot is 17.
- WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY: The Cubs lost to the Pirates 3-2 on Aug. 15. Since then they are 13-7. Only the Giants and Yankees (both 13-6) have a better record in MLB over that span.
- THIS DAY IN CUBS HISTORY: Bill Lee threw a six-hit complete-game shutout and the Cubs defeated the Phillies 4-0 at Wrigley Field, the fourth of what would become a 21-game winning streak. It happened 90 years ago today, Saturday, Sept. 7, 1935.
Cubs lineup:
Nationals lineup:
Drew Pomeranz, LHP vs. Andrew Alvarez, LHP
Drew Pomeranz threw the eighth inning of Saturday’s game, retiring the three hitters he faced on just 11 pitches.
Clearly, Pomeranz is going to be an opener here and then followed by either Aaron Civale or Colin Rea (it would have been Rea’s turn to go Sunday). Civale, as you know, threw three really
good innings Monday against the Braves. So perhaps both of those guys can give some “bulk” innings in this one.
As always, we await developments. Just for the heck of it, I’ve put Civale’s and Rea’s pitch charts below.
Andrew Alvarez was the Nationals’ 12th-round pick out of Cal Poly/San Luis Obispo in 2021. He made his MLB debut last Monday against the Marlins and threw five one-hit innings.
Nothing in his Triple-A record this year (25 starts, 4.10 ERA, 13 home runs allowed in 123 innings) said he’d do anything like that in the big leagues.
He has obviously never faced the Cubs or anyone on their active roster. Given that he’s left-handed… well, you know. Hoping for the best. His pitch chart below indicates he doesn’t throw particularly hard and relies a lot on offspeed stuff, although the chart is from only one game.
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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 live streaming page for today.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation Nationals site Federal Baseball. If you do go there to interact with Nats 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 2025 Game Thread procedure will be identical to last year’s.
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.
