Friday notes:
- FRIDAY ON MY MIND: The Cubs are 8-4 this season in Friday afternoon games at Wrigley Field. Since Aug. 8, 1988, when the lights were turned on at the park, they are 257-207-1 in Friday matinees, for a winning percentage of .554. That is 30 points higher than their .524 in all other games, day or night: 1,298-1,177. They have had a higher percentage on Friday afternoons than in all other games in 24 of 38 seasons. In those 24 seasons, it was higher by an average of 90 points. This year, it is higher by 46, .667 to .621. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
- MAGIC NUMBERS: The Cubs’ magic number to clinch a postseason spot is 8 and to clinch the top wild-card spot over the Padres, it’s 13. The Cubs and Padres split their season series, so the tiebreaker between them is the record within the team’s division. The Padres are 27-19 vs. NL West teams with six games remaining (three vs. Rockies, three vs. D-backs, all at home). The Cubs are 24-18 vs. NL Central teams with 10 games remaining (three vs. Pirates and four vs. Reds on the road, three vs. Cardinals at home). If the teams are still tied after that, the next tiebreaker is the team’s record against other teams in their own league.
- THE KELLY FILES: Carson Kelly, six games played in September: .250/.308/.750 (6-for-24) with four home runs and seven RBI.
- THIS DAY IN CUBS HISTORY: Orlando Merced’s three-run walkoff homer gave the Cubs a 15-12 win over the Brewers in a game they had trailed 8-2 after three innings and 12-5 going to the bottom of the seventh. It happened 27 years ago today, Saturday, Sept. 12, 1998.
Cubs lineup:
Rays lineup:
Matthew Boyd, LHP vs. Shane Baz, RHP
After a few rough outings, Matthew Boyd had a really good one six days ago against the Nationals, just two runs allowed in seven innings. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough for a win, as the Cubs scored just once that day.
Boyd has pitched much better at Wrigley Field (2.16 ERA in 13 starts) than on the road
(3.62 ERA in 15 starts) and has been better in day games (2.49 ERA in 13 starts) than night games (3.32 ERA in 15 starts). None of those numbers is actually bad, but a home day game seems like a recipe for victory (presuming the offense hits!).
Boyd hasn’t faced the Rays since 2019, and so only one member of the Rays (Yandy Diaz, 2-for-7) has ever seen him. Hopefully this will be to his advantage.
Shane Baz was the Rays’ first-round pick (12th overall) in 2017. He missed considerable time with injuries and this is his first full year as a rotation starter. It hasn’t really gone too well, although his last three starts have been decent enough (2.65 ERA, 21 strikeouts in 17 innings).
This is his first-ever start against the Cubs and he has never faced anyone on the Cubs’ current active roster. He throws hard, as you can see by the chart below.
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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. It’s also on MLB Network (outside the Cubs and Rays market territories).
Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation Rays site DRays Bay. If you do go there to interact with Braves 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.
