Tuesday notes…
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ROAD WARRIORS: The Cubs are 20-7 in their last 27 road games, making their season record 34-26, for a winning percentage of .567. In the past 80 seasons, the Cubs have finished better than .567 on the road only twice: .593 in 2015 (48-33) and .575 in 2016 (46-34-1). From 2017-25, they were .480 (324-351), including .519 last year (42-39). (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
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WINNING BIG: In 41 of the Cubs’ 69 wins, 59.4 percent, their final margin of victory was their largest lead of the game. Twenty of the 41 have come during their current 35-16 surge. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
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SCORING FIRST: The Cubs have scored first in 56 of their 119 games. In 53 of the games, 44.5 percent, the first run has been scored in the first inning: 27 times by the Cubs and 26 by their opponent. They Cubs are 21-6 when they did it and 9-17 when their opponent did. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
Cubs lineup:
Nationals lineup:
Shōta Imanaga, LHP vs. Jake Irvin, RHP
Shōta Imanaga continues his excellent run of starts. Last seven: 1.77 ERA, 1.180 WHIP, only six walks and five home runs in 40.2 innings.
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He faced the Nationals at Wrigley Field March 29 and allowed four runs in five innings, striking out seven. Of course, that game was played in 59-degree temps, far different conditions than are expected tonight. Also, Joey Wiemer, who went 3-for-3 including a home run that day, isn’t on the Nats anymore.
I’m expecting Shōta’s great pitching to continue.
Jake Irvin missed two months with a shoulder issue and has made two starts since his return. He held the Phillies to two runs in 5.2 innings in his last outing Aug. 5.
He was Imanaga’s opponent in that March 29 game and held the Cubs to two runs in five innings. Both runs were solo homers, by Ian Happ and Alex Bregman.
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Interesting note about that March 29 game — of the five Cubs pitchers who appeared in that game, only one — Imanaga — is currently on the active roster. (The others: Phil Maton, Hunter Harvey, Hoby Milner and Daniel Palencia.)
Here is the weather forecast for the area around Nationals Park.
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 Nationals site Federal Baseball. If you do go there to interact with Nationals 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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