Friday notes…
- HOME AND AWAY: The Cubs have won the same number of games, 27, at home and on the road. They have lost 19 at home and 23 on the road. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
- WINNING SERIES: The Cubs have won their last two series and gone 7-1-1 in their last nine, making their record 15-14-2 for the season. They began the year 2-3 through April, then went 6-1 through May 7, followed by 0-9-1 through June 11. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
- LEADS AND DEFICITS: The Cubs have erased 42 deficits, 10 of them in the half inning after falling behind, in 39 different games. They are 27-12 in those games, and have won two in a row and 10 of 12. The first of those was June 11, when their current 20-8 surge began. They have blown 51 leads, 15 in the next half inning, in 33 different games. They are 17-16 in those games, and have won two in a row, five of six and seven of nine starting June 24. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
- TODAY IN CUBS HISTORY: The Cubs’ five-run seventh overcame a 4-1 deficit to the Royals and they went on to win 7-4 to remain in first place in the NL Central. It happened 15 years ago today, Tuesday, July 17, 2001.
Cubs lineup:
Twins lineup:
Colin Rea, RHP vs. Bailey Ober, RHP
After a rough stretch, Colin Rea has posted a 2.61 ERA and 1.403 WHIP in his last four starts. In general he’s done a decent job filling in for injured Cubs starters.
Last year against the Twins, July 10, 2025 at Target Field, Rea held them to three hits and one run in seven innings. That’d work tonight.
For whatever it’s worth, Rea has been much better at Wrigley Field (2.72 ERA in 43 innings) than on the road (6.45 ERA in 51.2 innings).
Bailey Ober missed all of June due to right elbow inflammation, which is never good for a pitcher.
He returned to throw five innings against Cleveland July 9, allowing three hits and one run, with five strikeouts. So he’s had seven days’ rest.
This will be Ober’s first-ever start against the Cubs, thus he has faced only three current members of the Cubs roster. One of them, Michael Conforto, is 1-for-2 with a home run off Ober, for whatever that’s worth.
As you can see from the chart below, Ober doesn’t throw very hard, relying mostly on offspeed stuff.
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Here is the weather forecast for the area around Wrigley Field.
Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network.
Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
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The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.
You’ll find the game preview, like this one, 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.
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