Saturday notes…
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RUN DIFFERENTIAL: The Cubs’ 16-2 demolition of the Jays yesterday sent their run differential soaring to +23. It had not been that high in 16 games, since May 30, following a 6-1 win at St. Louis. It has not been higher than +23 in 25 games, since it was +26 on May 22, following a 4-2 loss against Houston. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
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WINNING IN DOUBLE FIGURES: The Cubs have scored at least 10 runs in seven games this season. They have won them all, extending their streak to 39 consecutive wins with double-digit runs since a 12-11, 10-inning loss at Arizona on April 16, 2024. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
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WALKING THE WALK: Cubs batters walked 11 times yesterday and struck out only four. They had had 23 previous games since 1901 with at least 11 walks and no more than three whiffs, but not since Sept. 5, 1988, when they had 12 and 4 while beating the Phillies at home, 14-3. Yesterday’s game was their 5,926th since then. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK, AGAIN?: Pete Crow-Armstrong was NL Player of the Week last week. He’s making a case to win the honor again. In four games so far this week: .563/.600/1.313 (9-for-16) with a double, a triple and three home runs.
Cubs lineup:
Blue Jays lineup:
Colin Rea, RHP vs. Patrick Corbin, LHP
Colin Rea had made some decent starts early this year but the last seven, yikes. In those seven: 6.75 ERA, 1.556 WHIP, eight home runs in 36 innings. His season ERA is 5.35, the highest it’s been since it was 6.00 after his first season outing (two runs in three innings).
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Okay, so what can we find in his record vs. Blue Jays hitters? Not much, 3-for-17 in a very small sample size. One of those three hits was a home run by Alejandro Kirk.
Good luck today, Colin.
Patrick Corbin signed a six-year deal with the Nationals after six pretty good years in Arizona.
Well. He had one good year there (2019) and got himself a World Series ring but the rest of his time in Washington was just awful — 137 starts with a 5.62 ERA and he led the league three times in runs allowed, hits allowed and losses.
In Toronto he’s been… okay. Positive bWAR (0.8), for whatever that’s worth. This month, though, in three starts, it’s gone back to bad: 8.49 ERA, 1.971 WHIP, K rate down, BB rate up… maybe this is a good time for the Cubs to face him.
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Current Cubs are batting .316 (49-for-155) against Corbin. Michael Conforto, in particular, has hit him well: .333 (12-for-36) with five home runs. Seiya Suzuki and Dansby Swanson have also both homered twice off Corbin.
Here is the weather forecast for the area around Wrigley Field.
Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network.
Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation Blue Jays site Bluebird Banter. If you do go there to interact with Jays fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.
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The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.
You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).
At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.
The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.
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You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.
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