CUBS LINEUP — At a time when wins don’t mean much for the Cubs — and do still matter quite a bit for the Dodgers — Chicago went into Los Angeles and took a series from the Dodgers, giving themselves a chance to sweep tonight. That’s pretty impressive. Let’s see if they can pull it off tonight with Jordan Wicks on the mound and the following Cubs lineup behind him.
Chicago Cubs Lineup:
- Ian Happ, LF
- Dansby Swanson, SS
- Seiya Suzuki, DH
- Cody Bellinger, RF
- Isaac Paredes, 3B
- Michael Busch, 1B
- Nico Hoerner, 2B
- Pete Crow-Armstrong, CF
- Christian Bethancourt, C
The Cubs lineup remains unchanged tonight – and why not? – with only the catchers swapping out, Christian Bethancourt comes in for Miguel Amaya.
Los Angeles Dodgers Lineup:
- Shohei Ohtani, DH
- Mookie Betts, RF
- Freddie Freeeman, 1B
- Teoscar Hernandez, LF
- Tommy Edman, CF
- Will Smith, C
- Max Muncy, 3B
- Miguel Rojas, SS
- Chris Taylor, 2B
Pitching Matchup:
Chicago Cubs:
Jordan Wicks is now two starts into his return from the injured list, and they’ve both been fairly solid. First, he kept the Nationals to just one run on four hits over 5.0 innings in D.C. Then, he went another 5.0 innings against a good Yankees squad at Wrigley Field, allowing three earned runs on five hits, four walks, and four strikeouts. The strikeout-to-walk ratio (4-4) is a little funky since he came back, and the Dodgers will be another tough opponent in both respects But he hasn’t allowed a barrel yet and has been getting a lot of groundballs. There are still many months of rust to shake off yet, and I’m just happy to see him out there.
Los Angeles Dodgers:
After an impressive rookie season in 2023 (3.76 ERA over 22 starts), Bobby Miller has managed﷽ only 11 starts this season without much success (7.79 ERA).
Indeed, while he came out the shoot with a bang (striking out 11 Cardinals over six shutout innings in his 2024 debut), the Cubs scored five runs on four hits and two walks over just 1.2 innings in his very next start. Miller made one more start after that, then hit the injured list, from which he didn’t return until mid-June.
After completing another four starts from June 19 to July 9, Miller hit the injured list again and didn’t return until late August. He finally seems to be somewhat healthy, though, making another four consecutive starts. But while the 21 strikeouts in those 20.2 IP looks nice enough, the 17 ER shows he may not be his usual self just yet.
Broadcast Info:
Chicago Cubs (75-70♊)🦩 vs Los Angeles Dodgers (86-59) at 9:10 pm CT – Marquee Sports Network, 670 The Score
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