SITE NOTE: Today is the day of an annual postgame BBQ I attend. Thus the recap of today’s game will likely be delayed an hour or so after its usual time.

BACK-TO-BACK: Thursday and Friday were the 15th time this season that the Cubs followed a win with back-to-back losses. They have won their next game the last six times, most recently on Wednesday at Toronto. The Cubs’ only two three-game losing streaks were May 6-9 (two at home vs. the Giants, one at New York vs. the Mets) and June 22-24 (one at home vs. the Mariners, two at St. Louis). They have played 42 games since their last third straight loss, winning 22 and losing 20. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)ONE-RUN AFFAIRS: The Cubs have played five consecutive one-run games at home against the Pirates this season: a win by 3-2, a loss by 2-1, wins by 2-1 and 3-2, then yesterday’s loss by 3-2. Another such game today would match the six in a row between the teams at Wrigley Field in 1976. The Cubs won four games. They played seven in a row in 2021, with the Cubs winning six. The Cubs also lost a game at Pittsburgh this year, 4-3, so six of their 29 one-run games have come in just eight games against the Pirates. They are 3-3 vs. the Pirates and 13-10 vs. everyone else. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)PCA NOTE: Pete Crow-Armstrong’s three-hit game was his 12th this year with at least three hits (10 with three, two with four), but his first since July 30 against the Brewers.STARTING PITCHING: Cubs starters have allowed three or fewer runs in 12 of the 13 games so far this month, yet the team record is just 5-8.

Here are today’s particulars.

Shōta Imanaga, LHP vs. Mike Burrows, RHP

Shōta Imanaga had a pretty good outing against the Cardinals last Sunday — 6.2 innings, three runs, nine strikeouts. The Cubs didn’t score enough for him to win, unfortunately.

His only outing against the Pirates so far this year, April 29 at PNC Park, resulted in five shutout innings. Another one like that, please, except maybe one more inning.

Mike Burrows has made 15 appearances (14 starts) for the Pirates this year, and has a 4.66 ERA and 4.66 FIP, and that’s notable — I don’t recall seeing any other starter who’s been in that many games or thrown as many innings (67.2) and those numbers are identical.

Burrows threw 5.1 innings against the Cubs June 14 at Wrigley Field and allowed one run. Does that sound familiar with the Cubs offense lately? The Cubs won that game 2-1.

Burrows’ two starts in August have resulted in a 9.31 ERA and 1.241 WHIP and four home runs allowed in 9.2 innings. The way the Cubs offense is going, he’ll probably shut them out for six innings.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. You can find out if Marquee is available via a provider in your area here. It’s also on FS1 (full national broadcast, no blackouts).

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.