Chicago Cubs shuffle rotation following rainout vs. Braves

The starters from Saturday’s scheduled game will go today for the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves as Joe Maddon will shift things for the upcoming Pirates series.

Mother Nature looks like she’s going to play nice for the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves finale on Sunday afternoon. Both starters from yesterday’s scheduled game will go today as the Braves Julio Teheran (0-3, 4.60) will face the Cubs John Lackey (3-1, 4.97) in the rain-shortened series finale. Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester will stay on four days rest as Kyle Hendricks will be moved to start the Nationals series.

The Cubs (17-5) used a big eighth inning in the opener which included a Matt Szczur grand slam in rallying to beat the Braves 6-1. Jon Lester escaped a bases-loaded, no out jam in the seventh in finishing with a no-decision. Lackey has needed the offense’s support in most of his starts, and the Cubs will use a loaded-lefty lineup against Teheran on Sunday.

The Braves (5-18) are finally starting to see some life from Freddie Freeman who’s on a five-game hitting streak (.526, 10-for-19) with two home runs, one which accounted for their only run in the opener. Teheran has struggled this season in his first five starts but is 2-0 with a 3.46 ERA at Wrigley Field.

Kris Bryant will return to the lineup for the Cubs after suffering a mild ankle sprain in the opener of the series while running the bases. Tim Federowicz will get his first start at catcher since being called up in place of the injured Miguel Montero.

Here are the lineups for today’s finale:

First pitch is slated for 1:20 p.m. CT and WGN will have the television coverage. 670 The Score will have the radio broadcast. Be sure to follow us during the game on Twitter @CubbiesCrib as well as come back here for postgame coverage!