Monday notes…
- OUR NEIGHBORS TO THE NORTH: This will be the 72nd series between the Cubs and Brewers at Wrigley Field, where the Cubs are 119-110. They have won 33 series, lost 30 and split 8. They have swept seven series, two of four games and five of three games, most recently a three-game set Aug. 2-4, 2019. The Cubs lost five of the next six series, winning only six of 20 games, capped by four losses, Aug. 10-12, 2021. They are 6-2-1 in series since then, with a record of 20-15. The Cubs are 40-31 in first games of series at home vs. the Brewers. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
- AFTER DARK: The Cubs are 16-7 in night games, a winning percentage of .696. They finished last season at .563 (49-38). They are 7-1 under the lights at Wrigley Field so far. Last year, they wound up 21-11. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
- PUT RUNS UP EARLY: The Cubs are 10-0 at home this year when they have scored first and 8-5 when their opponent scored first. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
- THE BUSCH LEAGUE: Michael Busch, 16 games in May: .315/.465/.556 (17-for-54) with five doubles, a triple, two home runs, 16 walks and 15 RBI.
Cubs lineup:
Brewers lineup:
Shōta Imanaga, LHP vs. Brandon Sproat, RHP
As you’ll recall, Shōta Imanaga’s second half was so bad that the Cubs didn’t use him in the deciding game of the division series in 2025.
Things have changed. Imanaga is 100 percent healthy again and in three starts this month he has been lights-out: 1.35 ERA,
0.950 WHIP, 21 strikeouts and only four walks in 20 innings.
Current Brewers, though, are hitting .329 (25-for-76) against Shōta. In particular, William Contreras has owned him — 5-for-12 with three home runs. Imanaga has been stingy with the long ball this year, just five in 54.1 innings. Keep that up and that’s a recipe for success.
With the wind blowing out tonight, this is a good test for Shōta to keep the ball in the yard.
Brandon Sproat came to the Brewers from the Mets in the Freddy Peralta deal over the offseason.
He’s had some good outings and some rough ones and has issued a lot of walks — 20 in 36 innings, an overall 13 percent walk rate, which is pretty bad. Hopefully the patient Cubs can make something out of that.
Sproat has never faced the Cubs or anyone on their active roster.
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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
Please visit our SB Nation Brewers site Brew Crew Ball. 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.
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.
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