MLB
Cubs Fly To LA Over Night To Face Dodgers In Four-Game Series
Another tough loss for The Cubs, being swept by The Reds for the first time since 1983. It was another stressful day for Cubs pitching. Mike Montgomery cruised all the way until the seventh inning. When Mike Montgomery gave up the second run of the game, Joe had taken him out and brought in Pedro Strop who has pitched effectively this season coming in with an ERA of 1.75. It didn’t stay like that for very long. Giving up a three-run home run to Jessie Winkler put The Reds behind one run. Giving up seven runs in the seventh inning and for some odd reason, Pedro Strop pitched the entire inning. The Cubs look to shake off the rough four-game series with The Reds. And focus on their next four-game series with The Dodgers.
Cubs Head To LA Over Night
After a loss like that, it’s hard to come back. Especially when having to fly halfway across the country, facing The Dodgers is never an easy task. The Dodgers, unlike The Cubs, have been playing very well and are on a three-game win streak. The Cubs offense seemed more alive in Sunday’s game compared to the previous three. Us fans have to hope that the bullpen can hold up and that Duane Underwood Jr. will make his MLB debut. Not the best time to have a new guy making his debut, with how the bullpen has performed as of late. I’m excited yet extremely nervous; The Cubs are two games back of The Brewers. And will need a critical quality start from Underwood Jr.
Series Pitching Matchups
Game 1
Duane Underwood Jr.- MLB Debut
Kenta Maeda- 4-4, 3.84 ERA
Maeda has been solid in his last couple starts. Allowing no more than three earned runs; however, he hasn’t gone very deep at all. Going only 15.6 IP in his previous four starts is something that is going to be interesting on how Joe will take that.
Game 2
Jon Lester- 9-2, 2.10 ERA
Ross Stripling- 6-2, 1.99 ERA
To me, this is the best pitching matchup in this four-game series. Last time The Cubs faced Stripling, they got him for four hits on three earned runs. The first time he was tagged for three earned runs in nine starts. Jon also pitched that day going 7.0 IP giving up five hits and no runs given up. The Cubs ended up winning that game, so I like our chances this time around.
Game 3
Kyle Hendricks- 5-7, 3.73 ERA
Alex Wood- 3-5, 4.13
Another good matchup on both sides, a finesse game between two deceptive guys that can place the ball wherever. Kyle Hendricks hasn’t pitched against LA yet this season, last time he faced the Dodgers was in Game three of the 2017 NLCS a game that he unfortunately lost. The last time Kyle beat the Dodgers was Game six of the 2016 NLCS in which he went 7.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB and 6 SO.
Game 4
Jose Quintana- 6-6, 4.26 ERA
Clayton Kershaw- 1-4, 2.94 ERA
The last time The Cubs had to face Mr. Clayton was in previous years NLCS in which it wasn’t much fun for The Cubs only able to score one run and were held to just three hits. I like The Cubs matchups in most of the games except for maybe this one. Jose in his last start got roughed up a tad for four runs on nine hits from The Reds.
