Chicago Cubs visit Cleveland Indians; Schwarber starts at DH

The Chicago Cubs will begin a short five-game interleague road trip tonight against the same team that shut them out at Wrigley Field last night with the Chicago Blackhawks in attendance.

First baseman Carlos Santana came through with a three-run shot in the third inning off starting pitcher Jake Arrieta, giving the Indians the early 3-0 lead. Trevor Bauer worked through seven scoreless innings and would be responsible for the Cubs (34-28) four runs while the bullpen was absolutely lights out during the final two frames of the game.

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Tonight, they’ll send the 34-year-old rookie southpaw, Tsuyoshi Wada to the mound in hopes of catching the second-place Pittsburgh Pirates. Wada (0-1, 4.84 ERA) started off the year strong but has struggled in his previous two starts, allowing a combined eight earned runs on 13 hits with two home runs in just six innings of work.

He’s yet to reach reach six innings as he’s managed to hit 5 2/3 just once in his first five outings of the year. He’ll need to redeem himself or else he could end up being sent to the bullpen like Travis Wood or demoted back to Triple-A Iowa in the near future.

While Wada picks up his sixth start, rookie catcher Kyle Schwarber will be making his very first major league start as the team’s designated hitter. Schwarber was recently named as a starter for the Northern Division with fellow teammate, Daniel Vogelbach as a member of the Double-A Tennessee Smokies before receiving the call up to the show.

The 22-year-old left-handed slugger will be spending a little bit of time with the big league club, serving as the team’s designated hitter for two games in Cleveland (30-33) and over the weekend when the Cubs visit the Twins.

He struck out in his big league debut at Wrigley Field last night but will have plenty of opportunities to strike. Not only will the Cubs front-office be watching, but general managers across the American League will be paying attention as well.

With the trade deadline approaching in late July, I wouldn’t be surprised if one of those GM’s decide to up and call Theo Epstein to see what it would take to acquire Schwarber’s services.

The man looking to limit his power will be 33-year-old right-hander, Shaun Marcum. Marcum (3-1, 4.09 ERA) is no stranger to the Cubs, having played against them as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers for two seasons from 2011-2012 and owns a 4-0 record in five career starts against the North Siders.

Marcum was stellar in his previous outing, working seven scoreless innings while hosting the ever-dangerous Seattle Mariners. He somehow managed to hold that lineup to just two hits while hitting one batter and recording five strikeouts.

Now here’s a look at tonight’s starting lineup’s for both clubs:

First pitch is slated for 6:10 p.m. central time and will air live on CSN, WBBM 780.

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