Morning Marquee: Cubs rained out yet again; Will play doubleheader today

On the same day the National Football League opened up their season with the New England Patriots hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Chicago Cubs found themselves having another one of their games postponed due to severe weather in the Philadelphia area.

Since it’s so late in the season, both the Cubs and Phillies will square off in a doubleheader today which will start at 4:05 p.m. central time with Jake Arrieta on the mound. Arrieta is looking to pick up his 19th win of the season to eclipse his career-high.

More from Chicago Cubs News

Chicago is riding a rough loss that came at the hands of the Cardinals just two days ago. In case you forgot, the bullpen had themselves a two-run lead entering the eighth inning after Joe Maddon opted to pull veteran southpaw Jon Lester from the contest.

St. Louis battled back by grabbing a 4-3 lead in the frame and eventually salvaging what should have been a three-game sweep. Nonetheless, the Cubs are still in great position to make the postseason.

Which I’m sure will make the entire fanbase cry tears of joy. Although, that’s just the beginning of a potential World Series push and momentum going into next year’s series road opener against Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels.

With the backend expected to take over after Arrieta’s done in Game 1, Tsuyoshi Wada could possibly pick up a start sometime this weekend with a second doubleheader coming up next Tuesday in Pittsburgh against the Pirates.

That day will more than likely feature both Lester and Arrieta going up against the returning A.J. Burnett.

Burnett, like Haren, may end up retiring after this season so the showdown at the end of the year could end up being their final appearance as a big league player before they walk off into the sunset.

As much as I respect Burnett, I’d much rather have Haren (for obvious reasons) pitching in the divisional round of the playoffs.

Here’s more from around the league:

‘The Rise and Falls of Fredi Gonzalez‘ – Tomahawk Take

‘Will the Diamondbacks trade Owings or Ahmed this off-season?‘ – Venom Strikes

‘Should the Indians exercise Ryan Raburn’s 2016 option?‘ – Wahoo’s on First

‘Cubs’ Starlin Castro firing on all cylinders following demotion‘ – Cubbies Crib

‘Cubs: Back-end of the starting pitching rotation‘ – Cubbies Crib

Next: Arrieta receives extra day off

Schedule