Chicago Cubs: Jason Hammel looks to extend Cubs winning streak in Arizona

It was a bad night for both starting and relief pitchers during yesterday’s late 14-6 Chicago Cubs win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. John Lackey and Rubby De La Rosa were getting lit up over the first five innings of play but thanks to his offense, Lackey was the one who came out on top.

For the first time in a very long time, the Chicago Cubs have started out the campaign with three consecutive wins. The only downside to the series victory is the fact that left fielder Kyle Schwarber was hurt. He was running down a pitch that was hit by Jean Segura and ran into center fielder Dexter Fowler.

At first, it was reported that he had suffered a left ankle sprain but the club was more concerned about his knee. Schwarber underwent an MRI and it was revealed that it was worse than we had anticipated. We’ll have more on the extent of his injury soon so be sure to come back for an update.

Still, it was great to see this lineup refuse to give up after falling behind multiple times. Hats off to Arizona (1-3) for putting up a fight — something that was expected to happen throughout the series.

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Now, taking the mound tonight for the undefeated Cubs will be veteran right-hander Jason Hammel. Hammel (10-7, 3.74 ERA in 2015) had the strikeout pitch working for him during Cactus League play last month.

Aside from Kyle Hendricks, the 33-year-old was one of the team leaders in punch-outs with 24 in six starts. As a result of a decent spring training, Hammel found himself in the starting rotation yet again. He ran into a bit of a consistency issue last season following a back injury he sustained at home while the Cubs were hosting the St. Louis Cardinals last July.

Starting opposite from Hammel will be 24-year-old southpaw Robbie Ray. Ray started off his career in the N.L. West with the Washington Nationals but was traded to the Detroit Tigers in 2013 then swapped in a three-team trade which resulted in him landing with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Next: MM: Schwarber left game with leg injury

In 32 appearances as a big leaguer, Ray has surrendered 76 earned runs behind 164 hits with 14 homers through 156 1/3 innings of work.

Now here’s how both teams will match-up:

First pitch is set for 8:40 p.m. central time and will air live on WGN, 670 The Score.