The Cubs are home for a quick one-series homestand.
The Giants are a bit of a surprise in the early going, with a 22-13 record that’s one game better than the Cubs. This, despite their catcher and first baseman floundering around with OPS numbers around .500.
They’ve done this in large part due to good pitching. Their 3.69 runs allowed per game ranks sixth in MLB, led by starters Logan Webb and Robbie Ray.
The Giants have played a pretty tough schedule, as have the Cubs — they’ve already won series against the Yankees, Mariners and Rangers. Of course, they’ve had some wins against not-good teams, too — they’re coming off a weekend having won three of four from the woeful Rockies. Their home/road schedule has had a weird balance, too. Of the Giants’ first 22 games, 16 were on the road. But they are now coming off a stretch where they played 11 of 13 at home — and lost the only two road games they played in that span, at San Diego.
For more on the Giants, please visit our SB Nation Giants site McCovey Chronicles.
Fun facts
The Cubs played 20 of their first 26 games vs. teams from the National League West. Now they will play three more, making the count 23 of 38. After they play three at home vs. the Rockies, May 26-28, it will be 26 of 56. Then they won’t play another NL West opponent for 75 games, until they begin a series at San Francisco on Aug. 26, their 132nd game.
From 1883 through 1949, the Cubs and Giants squared off 1,367 times. Each team won 671 games and 25 ended in ties. Since then, the Cubs have won only 420 games, to the Giants’ 492, with two ties.The Cubs are closing in on scoring their 10,000th run vs. the Giants since the rivalry began in 1883. They have tallied 9,924 in the 2,282 games played, so they have an outside shot to reach 10,000 by the end of their six games this year. The Cubs’ winning percentage in the rivalry is .484. But at home, they are .531, and since 2015 they are .700, having gone 21-9. They were 15-3 in 2015-19, then 1-5 in 2021-22 and 5-1 the past two years.
This will be the first of two “homestands” consisting of only three games. The second will be Sept. 12-14 vs. the Rays. They will make two road trips of three games: Friday-Sunday at New York vs. the Mets and Sept. 8-10 at Atlanta.
(Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
Probable pitching matchups
Monday: Matthew Boyd, LHP (2-2, 2.70 ERA, 1.440 WHIP, 3.78 FIP) vs. Landen Roupp, RHP (2-2, 5.10 ERA, 1.633 WHIP, 3.86 FIP)
Tuesday: Colin Rea, RHP (2-0, 1.46 ERA, 1.054 WHIP, 2.49 FIP) vs. Justin Verlander, RHP (0-2, 4.38 ERA, 1.297 WHIP, 4.14 FIP)
Wednesday: Ben Brown, RHP (3-2, 4.88 ERA, 1.660 WHIP, 3.69 FIP) vs. Robbie Ray, LHP (4-0, 3.05 ERA, 1.252 WHIP, 4.26 FIP)
Times & TV channels
Monday: 6:40 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Tuesday: 6:40 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Wednesday: 1:20 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Prediction
The Cubs have been on a roll and I don’t see any reason, given the pitching matchups here, why they shouldn’t take two of three.
Up next
The Cubs have Thursday off, then face the Mets in New York for a three-game series beginning Friday evening.