Chicago Cubs vs. Texas Rangers preview, Saturday 5/9, 6:05 CT

Saturday notes… STREAKING: The current season is only the fourth since 1901 in which the Cubs have enjoyed multiple double-digit winning streaks — and the first in 91 years. They won 14, 12, 10 and 10 in a row in 1906. They won 11 and 10 in 1910. They won 21 and 11 in 1935. The Cubs had one streak o

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Saturday notes…

STREAKING: The current season is only the fourth since 1901 in which the Cubs have enjoyed multiple double-digit winning streaks — and the first in 91 years. They won 14, 12, 10 and 10 in a row in 1906. They won 11 and 10 in 1910. They won 21 and 11 in 1935. The Cubs had one streak of at least 10 wins in six seasons before 1935 and have had one in 10 seasons since then. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)

STEALING: The Cubs stole three bases last night. They had swiped three in only two earlier games this season: a 10-2 win at home over Nationals on March 28, second game of season, and a 9-2 win at Tampa on April 8 — 27 games before yesterday. They have stolen two bases twice, March 30 and April 15, and one base in 13 games, for a total of 18 with a steal and 21 with none. Last season, the Cubs stole at least three bases in 19 games, stole two in 23 and stole one in 40, for a total of 82 with a steal and 78 with none. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
BEST IN THE BIZ: This season is just the fifth since 1901 in which the Cubs have had the best record in baseball after their 39th game. The last time, as you might have guessed, was in 2016,. They were 28-11 and the Orioles were second, at 24-15. The Nationals were second among National League teams, at 25-16. The three earlier times came in a span of five seasons in the first decade of the 1900s. In 1903, the Cubs were 28-11 and the Giants were 26-11. In 1904, the Cubs were 26-11, to 27-12 by the Red Sox and 26-12 by the Giants. In 1907, the Cubs were 30-9; the Giants, 28-11; and the White Sox, 27-12. A year earlier, the Cubs had been the best in the NL, at 26-13, but the Athletics of the AL, at 22-10, had a higher winning percentage, .688 to .667. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
THE SEIYA FILES: Seiya Suzuki, last 20 games since April 15: .329/.432/.658 (24-for-73) with three doubles, seven home runs, 12 walks, 15 RBI and 17 runs scored.

Cubs lineup:

Rangers lineup:

Edward Cabrera, RHP vs. Jack Leiter, RHP

Edward Cabrera has been remarkably consistent this year. After starting with two scoreless outings, he has allowed exactly three earned runs in each of his last five starts. So you pretty much know what you’re getting with a Cabrera start.

This will be Cabrera’s first-ever start against the Rangers. So, most of the Rangers have

not faced him. One who has, from their common time in the NL East, is Brandon Nimmo (6-for-16, a double, seven walks).

Jack Leiter is the son of former MLB pitcher Al Leiter, and so the first cousin of former Cub Mark Leiter Jr.

Highly touted, he was picked in the first round in 2021 (second overall) by the Rangers.

He had a pretty good year in 2025 (29 starts, 3.86 ERA) but this year has been a bit rough, with a 5.45 ERA and seven home runs allowed in 38 innings.

This will be Leiter’s first-ever start against the Cubs. Only three Cubs (Alex Bregman, Carson Kelly and Nicky Lopez) have ever faced him, and have gone a small sample size 0-for-9.

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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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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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Discuss amongst yourselves.