Thursday notes…
MILESTONE INCOMING: The Cubs’ next home run will be their 100th of the season. If they hit it tonight, they will tie 1999 and 2021 for the fourth-fewest games needed to reach the century mark.No. 100 came in the fourth inning with nobody out in game number 74 in 1999 and in the eighth inning with two outs in 2021. The Cubs reached triple digits in their 72nd game in 2017, in their 71st in 2000 and in their 62nd in 2019. If the 100th homer this year comes any time before Sunday, it will be the second-earliest date on which they accomplished the feat. No. 100 came on June 22 in 2000, 2017 and 2021, and on June 30 in 1999. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
STARTING PITCHER EXCELLENCE: Jameson Taillon has pitched at least six innings and given up no more than four hits in six consecutive games. That ties for the most by a Cub starter since 1901. Carlos Zambrano had both earlier streaks, in 2006 and 2010.Kerry Wood had five in a row in 2002. Jake Arrieta matched that in 2014. Nine others had four straight. The first three were in the first decade of the Modern Era Jack Taylor (1902), Jake Weimer (1904) and King Cole (1910). There wasn’t another until Ryan Dempster in 2008. The five after that: Carlos Villanueva (2013), Arrieta (2015), John Lackey (2016), and Justin Steele and Marcus Stroman (both 2023). (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
RAINOUT NOTE: Before Wednesday, the last Cubs home game that was postponed was Thursday, April 18, 2024 against the Marlins. That game was made up as part of a split doubleheader Saturday, April 20, 2024. Since that postponement, the Cubs played 96 games at Wrigley Field (including that makeup game) before Wednesday’s rainout.
THE FRIENDLY CONFINES: The Cubs have a 24-10 (.706) record at Wrigley Field this season, marking the second-best winning record at their home ballpark in MLB … the Mets (27-10, .730) hold the top spot in MLB and the Tigers (24-11, .686) are third. (The two games in Tokyo were considered “home” games for the Cubs, so even their overall “home” record of 24-12 ranks third-best in MLB.)
Here are today’s particulars.
Cubs lineup:
Brewers lineup:
Jameson Taillon, RHP vs. Freddy Peralta, RHP
Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
Jameson Taillon has been just excellent over his last six starts, posting a 2.31 ERA and 0.769 WHIP. Also good: Taillon, who had allowed a lot of home runs early, didn’t allow any in his last two starts.
He threw very well against the Brewers May 3 in Milwaukee: Six innings, three hits, two runs, five strikeouts. Another one just like that, please.
Freddy Peralta threw six shutout innings against the Cubs May 4 in Milwaukee, the only game the Cubs lost in that series. (That was also the game Shōta Imanaga left with the hamstring injury.)
Since then Peralta has continued his usual fine pitching, posting a 3.11 ERA and 1.248 WHIP in seven starts.
This will be a tough assignment for Cubs hitters, who are batting .171 (22-for-129) against Peralta. Kyle Tucker is 4-for-5, for whatever that very small sample size is worth.
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.