Cubs Head to Bay Area to Take on Baseball’s Hottest Team: Series Preview, May 20-22, 2016
After a forgettable series in Milwaukee, the Cubs (28-11) will head to the Bay Area for a three-game set with the San Francisco Giants (24-18).
The Cubs have come down to earth a bit, losing five of their last eight contests, but that’s nothing to worry about (we wrote about that here). They still boast a record of 11-6 in the month of May (so don’t panic). The Giants come into the series winning eight straight games, and have accumulated at 13-5 record in the month of May, which is tops in the bigs. This one will be good.
Game times and broadcast info
- Friday, May 20 at 9:15 PM CDT on WGN
- Saturday, May 21 at 6:15 PM CDT on FOX
- Sunday, May 22 at 7:05 PM CDT on ESPN
Starting Pitchers
| 5/20 | CHC | Jake Arrieta | 30 | R | 1.29 | 7-0 | 3.06 |
| SF | Jake Peavy | 34 | R | 7.43 | 1-4 | 2.40 | |
| 5/21 | CHC | Jon Lester | 32 | L | 1.88 | 4-2 | 4.25 |
| SF | Matt Cain | 31 | R | 5.87 | 0-5 | 3.0 | |
| 5/22 | CHC | Kyle Hendricks | 26 | R | 3.51 | 2-3 | 4.11 |
| SF | Madison Bumgarner | 26 | L | 2.45 | 5-2 | 3.94 |
Notable notes
- The Cubs bats have gone cold, yes, but lets keep things in perspective. Each of the Brewers starters this week threw THE BEST GAMES OF THEIR SEASON. Things happen in baseball that cannot really be explained. Yet, somehow, the Cubs were still in position to win the series on Thursday afternoon with two on and no outs in the top of the ninth inning while trailing 5-3. Obviously, it didn’t happen, but while sitting 17 games over .500 at this point in the season, series loses like that one need to be taken with a grain of salt.
- #Bryzzo2016 has been as good as advertised so far in this young season, with First basemen Anthony Rizzo leading the way. He leads the National League in RBIs with 34, while 3B/left fielder Kris Bryant’s OPS of .830 puts him at number nine for all qualified big league third basemen. However, over their last seven games the Cubs young sluggers, as a team, have struck out a combined 64 times, while leaving 51 runners on base. We all know that the strikeouts are going to happen, but it’ll be vital to put the ball in play against a Giants staff that has kept hitters in check all month long.
- The Giants 2.59 staff ERA in May is daunting, yes – but nothing the Cubs can’t handle. The Cubs will face their fourth and fifth starters in Jake Peavy and Matt Cain in the first two games. Both of their ERAs are well above 5, while Peavy’s sits at 7.34, one of the worst in the NL for qualified starters. The Cubs will dodge a bullet this series by not having to face Johnny Cueto, who earned his sixth win of the season on Wednesday as he went the distance against the Padres.