Cubs lineup vs. Pirates, Baez starting |
The Chicago Cubs (75-61) will battle the Pittsburgh Pirates in the series opener at 3:05 PM CDT on Monday afternoon televised on ESPN and ABC 7 Chicago. The Cubs are in sole possession of first place ahead of the Brewers by 3.5 games in the National League Central division.
One interesting note is that the Cubs are the first defending World Series champs to be in first place in their division on Labor Day since the Yankees in 2010. The North Siders are currently 7-3 in their last ten games. Veteran righty Jake Arrieta will start for the defending World Champions opposed by righty Chad Kuhl. In 2017, Arrieta has a 14-8 record with an impressive 3.36 ERA and 153 strikeouts. He has been on fire since after the All-Star break with a 6-1 record with a sparkling 1.59 ERA and received the National League Pitcher of the Month for August. Starting shortstop Javy Baez will be in the starting lineup after leaving Sunday's game getting hit in the eye by during a head first slide against the Braves. He got checked out at Northwestern hospital yesterday and it appears that he is good to go with no dizziness. Baez has started every game since Aug. 3 as he has done impressive work replacing the injured Addison Russell at shortstop. Update: Baez is a late scratch from the lineup with a sore thumb injury. Baez is batting .271 with 21 homers, 67 RBI, and .315 on-base percentage. Cubs lineup vs. Pirates 1. Jon Jay CF 2. Kyle Schwarber LF 3. Kris Bryant 3B 4. Anthony Rizzo 1B 5. Ben Zobrist 2B 6. Alex Avila C 7. Jason Heyward RF 8. Javier Baez SS 9. Jake Arrieta P
