The Cubs try to avoid being swept.
Today’s roster move: Here
Wednesday notes…
- ABOUT SWEEPS: The Cubs and Reds are the only teams that have not been swept in a series. The Brewers were swept in one, their first of the year, at Yankee Stadium. All other teams have been swept at least three times. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
- ABOUT LOSING STREAKS: The Cubs have not lost three consecutive games to any opponent this season, including in their three four-game series. The last time they lost three straight, and the last time they were swept, was Aug. 12-14 of last year, at Cleveland, when they were beaten by 9-8, 2-1 and 6-1. The series at Milwaukee is their 49th since then, 13 last year and 36 this year. Their record in those series is 88-62. After being swept at Cleveland a year ago, the Cubs lost the first two games then won the third of three subsequent series last season. Until Monday and Tuesday, they had lost the first two games this year only three times: the opening two-game series against the Dodgers in Tokyo, March 18-19; at St. Louis on June 23-24; and at Minnesota, July 8-9. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
- KING TUCK: Kyle Tucker has an 18-game on-base streak. During the streak he has a BA of just .217 (13-for-60) but an OBP of .363 because he’s walked 17 times in the 18 games. Also, in 80 PA over that 18-game span, he’s struck out only eight times.
- LEADING THE DIVISION: The Cubs aren’t in first place right now, but lead the NL Central in BA (.255), OBP (.325, tied with the Brewers), SLG (.442) and OPS (.767). The Cubs have also recorded the most HR (156), RBI (545), runs scored (560) and extra-base hits (357) among NL Central teams.
Here are today’s particulars.
Once again, lineups were not available at posting time. Please check BCB social media for today’s lineups. I’ll be glad when the Cubs aren’t playing the Brewers and we can stop this silly gamesmanship, or whatever it is, making the lineups late.
Shōta Imanaga, LHP vs. Freddy Peralta, RHP
Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
Shōta Imanaga got absolutely pounded by the White Sox in his last start.
That sentence is such an anomaly from the entire rest of Shōta’s career that I’m just going to ignore it and figure that he’ll go back to doing what he was before, which included pitching shutout ball into the sixth inning May 4 in Milwaukee, before he left that game with the hamstring injury that sidelined him for several weeks. (The two runs charged to him that day scored after he left the game.)
That said, you don’t want to look at his only game vs. the Brewers last year. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Shōta has a better ERA in day games than night games and also is better on the road than at home. This game qualifies as a road day game, so… here’s hoping for better than last time.
Freddy Peralta was the Brewers starter in that May 4 game and shut out the Cubs for six innings on four hits, with seven strikeouts. They did better against him June 19 at Wrigley Field, scoring three runs in five innings, including homers by Pete Crow-Armstrong and Dansby Swanson.
Peralta has always been tough on the Cubs and he is having one of his best seasons. Here’s hoping today is one of his rare bad games.
Baseball Savant
Baseball Savant
Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. You can find out if Marquee is available via a provider in your area here.
Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
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The 2025 Game Thread procedure will be identical to last year’s.
You’ll find the game preview 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, including the First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread, as well as the recap when it’s published. The recap will also live on the front page as a separate post.
You will also be able to find the preview, First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread in the box marked “Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.
The First Pitch thread will post at five minutes before game time, then an overflow thread at 90 minutes after the scheduled game time.
Discuss amongst yourselves.