Chicago Cubs look to get back on track against the Milwaukee Brewers

It was just a little over a week ago that the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers faced off in Milwaukee. After taking two out of three, the Cubs will host the Brewers as they try to end their three-game losing streak.

The Chicago Cubs starting rotation has been excellent, but they’re going to need the bullpen to catch up if they want to get back on the right track. The bullpen was involved in some way in all three of the weekend’s losses to Pittsburgh. The Milwaukee Brewers come to Wrigley Field percentage points ahead of the Cubs in the standings.

Veteran John Lackey (1-1, 3.00) will try to keep the Cubs rolling–at least from the starters–as they open the three-game series against the Brewers. The Brewers are in second place, currently chasing the surprise Cincinnati Reds. The Cubs sit in a tie with the Pirates after dropping all three to the Bucs this weekend.

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The Cubs will sit Javier Baez, going with Ben Zobrist at second. Albert Almora, Jr. will get the start in center field as he looks to provide a spark to the Cubs offense. What many thought might be a platoon of Jon Jay and Almora in the outfield has turned out to be anything but that. Jay has been relegated to the bench and Almora the occasional start. Joe Maddon has gone with Zobrist and Baez to this point, but it could be time to mix things up.

The Brewers will hand the ball to Chase Anderson (1-0, 0.69), who has taken full advantage thus far in the absence of Matt Garza. He’s struck out 11 in his two starts over 13 innings. Anderson will have the former Korean Professional Baseball league star in Eric Thames behind him, who will attempt to become just the second player in team history to homer in five straight games.

Here are the lineups for tonight’s series opener at Wrigley:

First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. CT at Wrigley Field. CSN+ will have the television coverage while 670 The Score will have the radio broadcasts. Be sure to check back for post-game coverage and more here on Cubbies Crib!