After getting roughed up in his last outing, Chicago Cubs pitcher Ben Brown will try to right the ship against the Chicago White Sox Sunday.
Brown, who was recalled prior to the Cubs’ Monday game against the Kansas City Royals, was touched up for seven runs, six of which were earned, in a 12-4 loss. He struck out four batters in four innings of work, but gave up a pair of home runs as his record dropped to 4-7 on the season.
It has been a rough year for Brown overall, who has a 6.48 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP in 83.1 innings for the Cubs. He has given up at least six earned runs in three of his last four appearances, including eight against the St. Louis Cardinals June 23 before he was sent down to Triple-A Iowa.
The Cubs, having split the first two games of the series vs. the South Siders, are aiming to keep pace with the Milwaukee Brewers after moving into a tie for first place in the National League Central on Saturday night. After Sunday’s game, the team will head up to Milwaukee to take on the Brewers in a pivotal three-game series, with Colin Rea, Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga all set to make starts for the North Siders.
Their rotation is slowly moving back to full strength, as Jameson Taillon went through a bullpen session on Friday and Javier Assad was slotted to make a rehab start with Triple-A Iowa on Wednesday.
The team could also be active on the trade market, with the deadline just four days away.
First pitch between the Cubs and White Sox is set for 1:10 p.m. Sunday.