Game Eighty-Seven: Cubs (38-48) vs. White Sox (34-51)
- Game Time – 7:10pm CDT
- Coverage – TV: WCIU, Comcast SportsNet (White Sox) – Radio: 720 WGN, XM Radio Channels 181/844
- Location – U.S. Cellular Field, South Side of Chicago
Matt Garza (4-1, 3.45/1.12) vs. Hector Santiago (3-5, 3.50/1.31)
Weather permitting … The Cubs travel to the South Side for a make-up game against the White Sox on the final Monday of the first half. The Cubs have already won the series and the Crosstown Cup by winning the first three games at the end of May. But the Cubs have a chance to sweep the season series against the Sox with a victory tonight.
The game back on May 28 was a match-up of Edwin Jackson and Chris Sale. Jackson was off to his best start of the season while Welington Castillo took Sale deep for a two-run homer that would have been his second longball of the season at the time. The game was cancelled in the bottom of the third and all of the stats were erased.
The Cubs have played good ball against the Junior Circuit this season. The Cubs are 11-6 in Interleague play with three games versus the American League remaining on the schedule. Tonight is the Cubs’ last game in an American League park and Alfonso Soriano is expected to be the Cubs’ designated hitter once again. Soriano is 8-for-17 in four games as the Cubs’ DH this year with two doubles, two home runs and six RBI (.471/.471/.941/1.412) and for his career, Soriano is 33-for-86 as a designated hitter in 29 games with six doubles, one triple, nine home runs and 25 RBI (.384/.411/.791/1.202).
Tonight all starts with Matt Garza …
The Matt Garza Watch continues tonight as the scouting section at the Cell should be filled with representatives from the Rangers, Indians, and the Red Sox, just to name a few. Garza has thrown the ball extremely well of late. Garza is 3-0 in his last four starts with a 0.90 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP. Garza has not allowed more than one earned run in each of his last four outings (three runs on 19 hits with 28 strikeouts and eight walks in 30 innings).
Matt Garza has pitched very well on the road this season, Garza is 2-0 in six road starts with a 2.41 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. Garza did not pitch in the scheduled four-game series with the White Sox back at the end of May.
Matt Garza is 2-3 in seven career starts against the Sox with a 4.70 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. At the Cell, Garza owns a 2-0 record in four starts with a 3.43 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. Garza faced the South Side once last year and picked up a win after allowing three runs on five hits with a walk and five strikeouts in six innings.
White Sox Career Numbers against Matt Garza
- Gordon Beckham – 2-for-5 with a walk
- Alejandro De Aza – 0-for-3
- Adam Dunn – 1-for-10 with two walks
- Jeff Keppinger – 5-for-8 with two doubles
- Alexei Ramirez – 2-for-7
- Alex Rios – 5-for-28 with a double, a triple and three walks
- Dayan Viciedo – 0-for-1 with a walk
Outside of the miserable first game of a doubleheader against the Indians, Hector Santiago has been very good in as a starter this season. Santiago is 3-3 in 10 starts with a 3.36 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. Santiago is coming off a very good outing against the Orioles in which he allowed two runs on five hits with two walks and nine strikeouts in seven innings.
Dating back to May 22, Santiago has started six games and he has allowed more than three earned runs only once in those starts.
Hector Santiago faced the Cubs back on May 29 at Wrigley and allowed two runs on two hits with a walk and a strikeout in 1 1/3 innings. For his career, Santiago does not have a record in three appearances against the Cubs with a 3.60 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP (two runs on three hits with a walk and four strikeouts in five innings). Tonight will be his first career start against the Cubs.
Cubs Career Numbers against Hector Santiago
- Darwin Barney – 0-for-1
- Starlin Castro – 0-for-2
- Scott Hairston – 1-for-1
- Dioner Navarro – one walk
- Anthony Rizzo – 0-for-1
- Alfonso Soriano – 0-for-2
- Luis Valbuena – 0-for-1
Let’s Talk Cubs Baseball …