Chicago Cubs vs. New York Yankees preview, Sunday 8/2, 1:20 CT

Sunday notes… GETTING TO SIXTEEN: Today’s game will be the fourth time this season the Cubs have had a chance to move to 16 games above .500. They lost, 6-0, at Texas on May 9, then at St. Louis, 3-2, on Wednesday and at home against the Yankees, 2-0, on Friday. Last year, they had 16 more wins than

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Sunday notes…

GETTING TO SIXTEEN: Today’s game will be the fourth time this season the Cubs have had a chance to move to 16 games above .500. They lost, 6-0, at Texas on May 9, then at St. Louis, 3-2, on Wednesday and at home against the Yankees, 2-0, on Friday. Last year, they had 16 more wins than losses for the first time on June 5, when they were 39-23 after a 7-1 win at Washington. They went to 16 above for good on Aug. 16, at 69-53, after beating the Pirates at home, 3-1. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)

RUBBER GAMES: The Cubs are 4-4 in all third games of series vs. the Yankees. They won the first, in 2003; lost the next four, in 2005-22; then won the last three years. The wins in 2003, 2023 and 2025 were in rubber games, with the ones in 2003 and 2024 coming at home. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
COMING FROM BEHIND: Last night’s game was the 46th of the season in which the Cubs overcame a deficit. It was the 11th of those in which they did so in their next inning at bat after falling behind. They have done it in 43 different games, winning 30 and losing 13. They have won three in a row, five of six and 15 of 17 starting June 11, the day they began their 29-14 surge. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
TODAY IN CUBS HISTORY: Ryne Sandberg’s two-run homer in the 10th gives the Cubs a 4-2 win over the Mets in New York. It happened 35 years ago today, Friday, Aug. 2, 1991.

Cubs lineup:

Yankees lineup:

Colin Rea, RHP vs. Gerrit Cole, RHP

Just when you think Colin Rea is past his sell-by date, he comes up with a solid performance, six one-run innings against the Cardinals last Tuesday. Of course, it helped that the Cubs gave him a 7-0 lead before the bottom of the second.

Rea hasn’t faced the Yankees since April 26, 2024 in Milwaukee, which is so long ago that Anthony

Rizzo was batting cleanup for New York. (He went 0-for-5.) Rea threw six innings and allowed five runs that night.

The only current Yankee who has faced Rea more than a handful of times is Paul Goldschmidt (3-for-10). Trent Grisham and Jasson Dominguez have homered off him.

Rea has been much better at Wrigley Field (3.33 ERA in 54 innings) than on the road (5.93 ERA in 57.2 innings), so perhaps that will make the difference.

Gerrit Cole missed all of 2025 and the first third of this year recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Since his return he’s been good. Not “2023 Cy Young good,” but good enough. He still strikes out a lot of guys, doesn’t walk many and as you see below, his velocity is still up there. He was very good in his last start, last Tuesday against the White Sox. He threw six scoreless innings, striking out seven.

Cole last faced the Cubs Sept. 8, 2024 at Wrigley Field and threw six innings, allowing three hits and two unearned runs.

Dansby Swanson is 4-for-11 (.364) with two home runs. Michael Conforto has also homered off him. Alex Bregman, who was Cole’s teammate in Houston in 2018 and 2019, is 3-for-12 with two doubles.

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

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. Of interest to Cubs fans in the UK, this game is being carried live on BBC at 7 p.m. BST. Details here.

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

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Yankees site Pinstripe Alley. If you do go there to interact with Yankees 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.

Discuss amongst yourselves.