Game Seventy-One – Cubs (30-40) vs. Pirates (35-37)
- Game Time – 3:05pm CDT
- Coverage – TV: WGN TV – Radio: 720 WGN, XM Radio Channels 183, 844
- Location – Wrigley Field, Chicago
Edwin Jackson (4-7, 5.11/1.50/3.88) vs. Charlie Morton (4-7, 3.09/1.24/3.74)
After a well-deserved day off Thursday, the Cubs begin a 10-game homestand this afternoon with the first of three against the Pirates. The Reds make their way to Wrigley for a three-game series that begins Monday and the homestand wraps up next Saturday with a day-night doubleheader against the Washington Nationals.
The Cubs will celebrate the decade of the 1950s during this homestand. Ernie Banks bobbleheads will be handed out prior to today’s game and the Cubs and Pirates will don throwback jerseys in Sunday’s finale. The Cubs will honor Ernie Banks throughout the weekend. The greatest Cub of them all made his Major League debut on September 17, 1953. The current Cubs roster will wear throwback jerseys from the ’53 season Sunday in tribute to Mr. Banks.
The Cubs are coming off a good road trip in which the team split the 10 games (5-5) after winning back-to-back series in Philadelphia and Miami. The Cubs are 15-14 at Wrigley and over the course of the season Cubs have played better ball at home than on the road.
The Cubs are 17-13 in their last 30 games despite dropping three of four in Pittsburgh last week. The Cubs are 3-7 in the first 10 games with the Bucs this season. And until the pitching staff learns how to pitch to Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco, the losing will continue.
After today’s match-up of Edwin Jackson and Charlie Morton, Travis Wood is scheduled to face Vance Worley under the lights Saturday night. Jason Hammel and Brandon Cumpton are slated to wrap up the series Sunday afternoon.
The homestand all starts with Edwin Jackson …
Edwin Jackson is coming off yet another bad start. Jackson was lit up in Philly last Saturday to the tune of seven runs, six earned, on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. Jackson has really struggled since rumors suggested he was drawing interest on the trade market.
Edwin Jackson is 1-2 in his last three starts with a 6.32 ERA and a 1.85 WHIP. Jackson has given up 20 hits with nine walks and 14 strikeouts in his last 15 2/3 innings. Jackson has pitched a lot better at Wrigley this season and is 3-1 in six starts in his home park with a 3.22 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. Jackson faces a Pirates team today for the fourth time this year that has feasted on his pitching.
Edwin Jackson is 0-1 in three starts versus the Bucs this season with a 6.19 ERA and a 1.75 WHIP. The Pirates are hitting .300 against Jackson this year while Andrew McCutchen has pounded Jackson in the first three games. Jackson should be on a short leash today if he continues to pitch the way he has over the last month.
Pirates Numbers against Edwin Jackson in 2014
Charlie Morton has been very, very good of late. Morton shut the Cubs down on June 9 and allowed one runs on six hits in seven innings and followed that outing with a good start in Miami in which he allowed two runs on five hits with three walks and six strikeouts in seven innings. Morton is 3-0 in his last three starts with a 2.37 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP.
The road has not been as kind to Morton this year as PNC Park. Morton is 2-4 in seven starts outside of Pittsburgh with a 4.01 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. Morton faces the Cubs for the fourth time on the year today.
The Cubs have done very little against Charlie Morton this year. Morton is 1-0 in three starts versus the Cubs with a 2.84 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. But the Cubs did score five runs on eight hits in six innings against Morton in his only start of the season at Wrigley Field.
Cubs Numbers against Charlie Morton in 2014
Let’s Talk Cubs Baseball …