Chicago Cubs vs. Pittsburgh Pirates preview, Friday 9/11, 1:20 CT

Friday notes… NOT SWEET SIXTEEN: From June 11 through Aug. 12, the Cubs lost 16 games while winning 37. Since Aug. 13, they have lost 16 more while winning just 10. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53) FIVE HUNDRED: The Cubs are 54-54 in their last 108 games, two thirds of a full season. They were 27-12 on May

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Friday notes…

NOT SWEET SIXTEEN: From June 11 through Aug. 12, the Cubs lost 16 games while winning 37. Since Aug. 13, they have lost 16 more while winning just 10. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
FIVE HUNDRED: The Cubs are 54-54 in their last 108 games, two thirds of a full season. They were 27-12 on May 7 and they are 81-66 today. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
DOUBLE-DIGIT DEFICIT: The Cubs trail the first-place Brewers by 10 games. The last time the Cubs were behind by double digits was after they lost the final game of 2024, by 3-0 in 10 innings at home vs. the Reds, to finish 83-79 to the Brewers’ 93-69. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)

DINGER DROUGHT: Since hitting a team-record nine home runs vs. the Brewers on Aug. 31, the Cubs have hit a total of seven in 10 games, including none in the last two. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)

Cubs lineup:

Pirates lineup:

Shōta Imanaga, LHP vs. Wilber Dotel, RHP

What a crazy season Shōta Imanaga has had:

First nine starts: 2.32 ERA, 59 strikeouts and just 5 HR in 54.1 innings
Next seven starts: 7.41 ERA, 29 strikeouts and 15 (!) HR in 37.2 innings
Next eight starts: 2.70 ERA, 56 strikeouts but 11 HR in 53.1 innings

Following that: Three homers allowed to the Reds Aug. 30, followed

by a really good six-inning, one-run, no-walk effort against the Marlins Sept. 4.

What comes after that? Your guess is as good as mine. The good news: Imanaga has made two starts against the Pirates this year and allowed no runs in 12 innings, with only four hits allowed and 13 strikeouts. In six career starts vs. Pittsburgh he has an ERA of 0.24, with a WHIP of 0.658 — just one run allowed in 38 innings.

So maybe things will go well today.

Wilber Dotel will be an opener for the Pirates this afternoon after scheduled starter Braxton Ashcraft was placed on the injured list yesterday. We don’t know much about who might follow Dotel, although this is possible:

Dotel is a rookie who has made 17 relief appearances for the Pirates with a 4.41 ERA and 1.316 WHIP. He has pitched twice against the Cubs this year, both at PNC Park, three scoreless innings May 25 and another scoreless inning July 24. He last pitched Tuesday against the White Sox, allowing one run in two innings and throwing 28 pitches.

As you can see from the chart below, Dotel throws hard. That’s about all I’ve got on him. As far as I know he is not related to the late former MLB pitcher Octavio Dotel.

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Here is the weather forecast for the area around Wrigley Field.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. It’s also on MLB Network (outside the Cubs and Pirates market territories).

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

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.

The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.

You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.