The Cubs go for the series sweep.
Thursday notes…
- AS DIFFERENT AS NIGHT AND DAY: Last night’s game was the Cubs’ 898th under the lights at Wrigley Field since they were turned on for the first time, on Aug. 8, 1988. This afternoon’s game will be their 1,905th in daylight at Wrigley since then — and a win would be their 1,000th in those games. Their daytime winning percentage is .525. At night, they are .533, with 479 wins and 419 losses. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
- CUBS STARTERS … AND OTHERS: Javier Assad and Shota Imanaga have pitched the same number of innings (21.1), allowed the same number of hits (14) and struck out the same number of batters (21). Five pitchers on other teams also have thrown 21.1 innings. All have given up at least 20 hits and only Patrick Sandoval of the Angels has recorded more strikeouts, 24. He has walked 14, leading to 16 earned runs and an ERA of 6.75. Assad has walked 8, yielded 5 earned runs and has an ERA of 2.11. Imanaga has walked 2, allowed 2 earned runs and has an ERA of 0.84. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
- THE LEIT SHOW CONTINUES: Mark Leiter Jr. threw a scoreless inning Wednesday and has still not allowed an earned run in 12 appearances this season (12⅓ innings pitched).
- TAUCH-ING BASEBALL: Mike Tauchman, last seven games since April 17: .435/.480/.826 (10-for-23) with three doubles, two home runs, six RBI and five runs scored.
Here are today’s particulars.
Cubs lineup:
Here is today’s #Cubs starting lineup for the series finale against Houston!
Tune in: https://t.co/Gs2hZXyTjH pic.twitter.com/kuarpjWtOG
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 25, 2024
Astros lineup:
Last one in Chi Town.
⚾️: 1:20pm
: @SpaceCityHN
️: @SportsTalk790 | Spanish: 93.3 FM#Relentless x @reliantenergy pic.twitter.com/DQ8YRVMZ82— Houston Astros (@astros) April 25, 2024
Javier Assad, RHP vs. Justin Verlander, RHP
Javier Assad is just a very good pitcher. Evidence for that claim:
Javier Assad: 2.82 ERA in 22 career starts. 3.18 ERA in 23 games out of the pen. Effective however the Cubs use him.
— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) April 20, 2024
This year he’s been starting because of the injuries to Jameson Taillon and Justin Steele. The results have been good, he’s got solid peripherals… what’s not to like?
As is the case for all the Cubs pitchers in this series, he’s never faced the Astros or anyone on their active roster.
That’s not the case for Justin Verlander, who’s been around a long, long time. Whenever he decides to hang ‘em up, five years later he’ll be making a speech in Cooperstown.
Just to give you an idea of how long Verlander has been pitching, here’s the boxscore from his MLB debut, July 4, 2005.
Verlander has made just one start so far this year, his season delayed by some shoulder inflammation. He’s 41 and well, nothing lasts forever. In his long, distinguished career he’s made just two starts at Wrigley Field, both with the Tigers, last in 2012. Here’s that boxscore, just for amusement value.
Yan Gomes is the only Cub who’s faced him more than a handful of times: .267 (12-for-45) with three doubles.
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 2024 Game Thread procedure will be like last year’s, similar to what we’ve used for Spring Training.
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.