Chicago Cubs vs. Kansas City Royals preview, Sunday 8/9, 1:10 CT

Sunday notes… SPLITTING THE DIFFERENCE: This is the 20th of the Cubs’ 39 series in which they have split the first two games. There was no third game in one series. In the others, the Cubs won seven games and lost 11. On the road, they are 4-4 and have won the last two, at Milwaukee on June 28 and C

What is the story about?

Sunday notes…

SPLITTING THE DIFFERENCE:
This is the 20th of the Cubs’ 39 series in which they have split the first two games. There was no third game in one series. In the others, the Cubs won seven games and lost 11. On the road, they are 4-4 and have won the last two, at Milwaukee on June 28 and Cincinnati on July 12. Their last loss on the road was on May 17 at the White Sox. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
NOT STREAKING: The Cubs have not lost back-to-back games since July 9 at Baltimore and July 10 at Cincinnati. Since then, they are 17-8. They have not lost two straight to the same team since July 4-5, at home vs. the Cardinals, 29 games ago. And they have not lost two in a row on the road to the same team since June 9-10 at Colorado. Their current 34-16 surge began with a win over the Rockies the next day. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
IN THE SUNSHINE: The Cubs are 26-23 in day games, but 7-11 on the road, where they finished 14-12 last season. They are 15-10 in day games after night games, including 6-6 on the road. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
THREE IS THE NUMBER OF THE COUNTING: When the Cubs have scored no more than three runs, as they did last night, they are 9-37. With at least four, they are 59-13. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
TODAY IN MLB HISTORY: The All-Star Game is played in Cleveland to re-open the season after a strike cost nearly two months of games. The NL wins the game 5-4 on Mike Schmidt’s eighth-inning home run. Bill Buckner, representing the Cubs, goes 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter. It happened 45 years ago today, Sunday, Aug. 9, 1981.

Cubs lineup:

Royals lineup:

Matthew Boyd, LHP vs. Randy Dobnak, RHP

Matthew Boyd has pitched at ace level since his return from the injured list.

Eight starts since his June 25 return: 2.40 ERA, 1.192 WHIP. Some of the peripherals are a bit concerning, but the Cubs are 7-1 in those eight starts so let’s not argue with success!

Last year against the Royals, July 22, 2025 at Wrigley Field, Boyd threw seven shutout

innings and struck out six. Another one just like that, please. It should also be noted that Boyd has pitched better on the road (2.57 ERA in six starts) than at Wrigley (4.54 ERA in seven starts).

One of the most interesting things about Randy Dobnak is that when he was just a guy trying to make it in MLB, he started driving for Uber and Lyft. Here’s what he said about that a few years ago:

“I have all five stars except for one,” Dobnak said. “I have one four-star. I’m hoping it was a mistake. I don’t remember doing anything bad. … I wish I knew. I wish I could find that person and just ask them why.”

Anyway. Dobnak made 39 appearances for the Twins between 2019 and 2025 with varying levels of success and then he signed with the Mariners as a free agent last offseason. He pitched for them in Triple-A and then the Royals acquired him for cash considerations in June.

He’s made six starts for them and the results have been pretty good — one run or fewer allowed in five of those starts.

Dobnak’s only career appearance against the Cubs was a three-inning relief outing Aug. 6, 2024 at Wrigley Field. He allowed three runs.

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Here is the weather forecast for the area around Kauffman Stadium.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network.

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

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

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Discuss amongst yourselves.