Cain Looks to Win Rubber Match of The Series: Preview, Notes, Lineup

Matt Cain will take the ball for the Giants in hopes of earning a series victory against the Cubs and ultimately capping off a very successful road trip. A win today is needed, however, considering that the Astros and Cubs are two of the National League’s worst ball clubs.

Cain earned a no-decision is his last start on the first game of the road trip. He pitched 7.1 innings, but coughed up a run in the eighth inning on a wild pitch to vanquish his chances of a win. The Giants did, however, comeback to win, 3-2.

Back on June 2nd, Cain pitched eight innings of one-run ball against Chicago, with the lone blemish being a solo home run off the bat of David DeJesus.

Cain will be opposed by southpaw Travis Wood. Wood sports a 4-11 record this season, along with a 4.71 ERA. Despite pitching seven innings of two-run ball in his last start against the Brewers, he picked up the loss.

Wood faced the Giants during that same four-game series that Cain pitched in. He was stellar as well, yielding the Giants to just one run over seven strong innings. Ironically, bad luck factored into the decision again, as he got the loss due to a lack of run support.

--- The Giants are 5-1 against the Cubs this year.

--- If Matt Cain earns the win, he will tie his single-season record for most wins in a season with 14.

--- Pablo Sandoval has not hit a home run since July 8th (29 games).

Lineups:

Cubs

1. David DeJesus (L) RF
2. Luis Valbuena (L) 3B
3. Anthony Rizzo (L) 1B
4. Alfonso Soriano (R) LF
5. Starlin Castro (R) SS
6. Steve Clevenger (L) C
7. Brett Jackson (L) CF
8. Darwin Barney (R) 2B
Travis Wood (R) P

Giants

1. Angel Pagan (S) CF
2. Marco Scutaro (R) 2B
3. Pablo Sandoval (S) 3B
4. Buster Posey (R) C
5. Hunter Pence (R) RF
6. Joaquin Arias (R) SS
7. Xavier Nady (R) LF
8. Brett Pill (R) 1B
9. Matt Cain (R) P

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Nady Delivers as Giants Defeat Cubs 5-2

If there was ever a day for the Giants to call up Xavier Nady from Triple A Fresno, this was it.

Nady made all the difference in the Giants' 5-2 win against the Cubs at Wrigley Field this afternoon, delivering a huge bases clearing double with two outs in the first inning to put San Francisco up 4-0 at the time.

It was a classic two-out rally for the Giants in the top of the first. After Angel Pagan and Marco Scutaro made two quick outs, Pablo Sandoval and Buster Posey both singled and Hunter Pence walked to load the bases. Hector Sanchez was hit by a pitch to force in a run, then Nady delivered a bases clearing double in his first at bat as a Giant.

Tim Lincecum pitched well enough for a victory, giving up a two-run shot to David DeJesus, but limited the Cubs to just four hits in six and a third innings.

Justin Germano allowed all five runs for the Cubs on six hits.

The Giants' bullpen was effective in relief of Lincecum, allowing just one hit in the final three and 2/3 innings.

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Giants Call Up Nady, Start Him in Left vs. Cubs: Preview. Lineups

The Giants will look to even up the series today as they take on the Cubs from Wrigley Field.

Tim Lincecum (7-14, 5.30) will look to shut down Chicago, who will send Justin Germano (2-4, 5.91 ERA) to the mound.

Lincecum was fairly mediocre against Braves in his last start, allowing three runs in five innings. Germano has struggled lately as well, losing back-to-back games to the Milwaukee Brewers while giving up 12 runs in 9 and 2/3 innings.

Roster Moves

The Giants called up outfielder/first baseman Xavier Nady from Triple A Fresno this morning. He hit .270 with six home runs in 25 games with the Fresno Grizzlies. 

Nady hit .157 with three home runs in forty games with the Washington Nationals before he was released earlier this year.

Nady will hit seventh in the Giants lineup today, playing left field.

Lineup - Giants vs. Cubs, 10:05 AM

Pagan CF,

Scutaro 2B

Sandoval 3B

Posey 1B

Pence RF

Sanchez C 

Nady LF

Crawford SS

Lincecum P

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Bumgarner Struggles as Giants Fall to Cubs

The "friendly confines" weren't exactly kind to Madison Bumgarner, who allowed five runs on six hits in just four innings pitched as the Giants fell 6-4 to the Cubs at Wrigley Field,

Alfonso Soriano, who rejected a trade to the Giants earlier this year, did much of the damage for Chicago with an RBI double in the first and a two-run home run in the third.

The Cubs would lead 5-0 after three innings, as Wellington Castillo's double brought in two more runs.

San Francisco would rally to close it to a 6-4 deficit in the eighth, thanks to RBIs by Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval, and Hunter Pence, but Cubs close Carlos Marmol would finish them off in the top of the ninth to secure the win for Chicago.

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Giants Start Series at Wrigley: Game Preview, Lineups

The Giants did their job against the Astros by sweeping them in a three-game series.

Now they'll look to repeat that performance against the 50-80 Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Madison Bumgarner (14-8, 2.93 ERA) will pitch for the Giants. He will look to rebound after a sluggish performance against the Braves in his previous start.

He will be opposed by Chris Volstad (1-9, 6.28 ERA), who, as you can probably tell by his stats, should not be much of a threat.

I'll repeat the same thing I wrote at the start of the series against the Astros: anything short of a sweep against the Cubs would be considered a disappointment.

Lineup - Giants vs. Cubs 11:20 AM

CF Pagan
2B Theriot
3B Sandoval
C Posey
RF Pence
1B Belt
SS Arias
LF Blanco
P Bumgarner

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A's Trade Anthony Recker to Cubs

The Oakland A's have traded catcher Anthony Recker to the Cubs for another catcher, Blake Lalli.

Recker has played in 18 games with the A's, and is hitting .146.

Lalli has appeared in six games this season for the Cubs and is 2/15. He has a .259 average in the minor leagues.

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Milton Bradley: Going, Going, Gone

You can only show compassion for so long, because at some point, compassion has to step aside and let pragmatism move into its breach. In Chicago, it did just that when the Cubs told Milton Bradley to take his baseball gear and go home.

Like a handful of teams before them, the Cubs tried and failed to fit Bradley’s combustible character into a situation that would keep it from turning into an inferno. They surrounded Bradley with professionals, partnered him with a player-friendly manager in Lou Piniella and plopped him into a city that reveres men who wear Cubs jerseys.

The organization was hopeful that, under these circumstances, Bradley would achieve the stardom that has long been predicted for him. He would build off the season he had with the Rangers a year ago and give the Cubs a potent bat in the middle of the batting order.

(Continue to Justice Is Served)

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