We're only about two weeks away from the Brewers' final home game, which figured to attract a small crowd. It was scheduled to be a 1 pm start against the Cardinals, going head-to-head with a noon Packers game. I was actually kind of looking forward to the possibility of having Miller Park to myself that day.

The Brewers just announced, though, that the game has been moved to 7 pm. It'll also be one of their rare national appearances this season, as it's scheduled to be a Sunday Night Baseball telecast on ESPN. This will be the Brewers' first and only SNB appearance of 2013. They've been on FOX a couple of times on Saturdays.

If I had to estimate, I'd guess seven innings of the game will be spent talking about how great the Cardinals have been this season, and the other two will be spent discussing Ryan Braun. That's just a guess, though. It's possible they'll spend three innings on Braun.

----

W: Carlos Villanueva (5-8)
L: Kyle Lohse (9-9)
S: Kevin Gregg (30)

HR: Aramis Ramirez (10), Scooter Gennett (6), Junior Lake (grand slam, 5)

MVP: Aramis Ramirez (+.068 WPA)
LVP: Kyle Lohse (-.407 WPA)

Win Expectancy Graph
Box Score

The Brewers don't play a lot of Friday day games, but today we learned they're just as bad during the day on Fridays as they are on the week's other days.

This one was over early as Kyle Lohse allowed five runs on five hits and a walk in the first inning, including the first grand slam of Junior Lake's career. Lohse did manage to complete five innings today but allowed seven total runs on eleven hits, walking one and striking out two.

Jimmy Nelson followed Lohse to the mound for his major league debut and pitched two perfect innings. He's the first Brewer to pitch two or more perfect innings in his debut since Mike McClendon in 2010, and the second since Allen Levrault in 2000.

The offensive good news from today came from Aramis Ramirez, who hit a solo home run in the third inning and now has five in his last 16 appearances. Ramirez scored his 1000th career run on the play, and I wrote more about that here. Scooter Gennett also came off the bench to hit a three run homer in the eighth and make it a save situation.

The bad news from today came from Khris Davis, who was a late scratch from the lineup with a sore wrist. He's day-to-day. The other bad news is that the Brewers and Cubs are now tied for fourth place in the NL Central at 60-80. The Brewers were last in last place on August 19.

This series continues tomorrow when Johnny Hellweg takes on Jake Arrieta at 3:05.

So when the Cubs took a 5-0 lead in the first inning on Junior Lake's first career grand slam, what was your first thought?

If it was like mine, it was, "This team blew a lead exactly like this one just one week ago today. How are they going to blow this one today?"

All right, enough of that thinking, because they didn't, although they did need to score some extra runs to ensure an 8-5 win over the Brewers. It's just the second time since the All-Star break (both on this homestand) that the Cubs have won back-to-back home games, and the win lifted them into a tie for fourth place with Milwaukee.

In addition to his slam, Lake laid down a gorgeous bunt single in the third inning that loaded the bases. Chris Rusin drove in a pair of runs -- his first two major-league RBI -- with a single up the middle to make it 7-2 Cubs.

Unfortunately, Rusin got himself in trouble with too many hits allowed, too many walks and too many long counts and had to be pulled with two out in the fourth inning and two runners on base. Carlos Villanueva entered, struck out Jonathan Lucroy to end that threat, and then struck out four of the six other Brewers he faced, one of Villanueva's best outings of the season. Because Rusin didn't finish five innings, Villanueva was credited with the "win", for whatever that's worth.

After the Cubs took that 7-2 lead, it was up to the rest of the pen to hold it. Justin Grimm made his Cubs debut and threw an effective inning, allowing just one walk. In making his appearance, Grimm helped the Cubs tie a franchise record -- he's the 53rd Cub to appear this season, tying the team record set last year. There are still three more Cubs who have not yet appeared -- J.C. Boscan, Scott Baker (who will start Sunday, breaking the record then if it isn't done Saturday) and Daniel Bard, who was in the bullpen Friday wearing No. 28, and who is expected to pitch in relief before this year is over.

Grimm probably could have stuck around for game's end, given that he's been a starter all year, but Dale decided to give an inning of work to Pedro Strop. After two strikeouts and two singles, Strop let pinch-hitter Scooter Gennett hit a fly ball to right that just barely made it into the basket for a three-run homer, making the game close at 7-5.

The Cubs scored a run in the eighth, and that set up Kevin Gregg for another franchise milestone. In all of Cubs history before 2013, there had been just 16 30-save seasons. Gregg retired the Brewers 1-2-3 in the ninth for his 30th save. It's the third 30-save year of Gregg's career; the last 30-save Cub seasons were posted by Carlos Marmol in 2011 (34) and 2010 (38). Next up on the team list: 31-save seasons by Ted Abernathy (1965), Bruce Sutter (1977) and Lee Smith (1986). Abernathy's 31-save season in 1965 is noteworthy; it was the first 30-save season in major-league history and put Abernathy on the map, if briefly (the record was broken the next year) as one of the first "closers", though not in the modern sense; Abernathy appeared in 82 games, threw 136⅓ innings and 17 of his saves were more than one inning.

Lake's blast was the third Cubs slam of the season; if you had to guess without looking, could you name the other two? Use your mouse to highlight this entire paragraph to find the answer, as I'm hiding it using white text right after this sentence. Travis Wood on May 30 and Scott Hairston on May 31.

All of this on a gorgeous, summer-like afternoon in front of yet another sparse crowd; 25,351 was the tickets-sold count, but many thousands fewer actually attended the game. Those who were there saw a nice offensive outburst; Anthony Rizzo added to the fun with two hits, as did Welington Castillo and Donnie Murphy. All told, the Cubs pounded out 13 hits off Kyle Lohse and two Milwaukee relievers.

Wins are nice. That's enjoyable baseball, even if the result doesn't mean much. The two teams will go at it again Saturday -- and remember, Saturday's game time has been changed. Original schedules (and tickets) show Saturday as a 12:05 start, but it was switched to 3:05 a few weeks ago. Jake Arrieta takes the mound against Johnny Hellweg.

On this day in 2005 the Brewers beat the Reds 14-5 at Great American Ball Park, scoring at least one run in each of the game's first seven innings. J.J. Hardy drove in six runs in the game but the most surprising offensive performance might have come from Chris Capuano, who became the first Brewer pitcher ever to score three runs in a game.

Capuano singled with one out in the second and scored on Hardy's RBI double. He singled again in the third, and again scored on Hardy's second double. He flew out to left in the fifth, but walked in the sixth and scored on Hardy's grand slam.

Capuano probably had a better day at the plate than he did on the mound. He pitched 6.2 innings in the game and allowed five runs on nine hits, including a pair of home runs. That was good enough, though, for his 16th win. He was the first Brewer to win 16 games in a season since Cal Eldred in 1993. Capuano finished the season with 18 wins, and is the only Brewer to reach that mark in the last 25 years.

With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:

• 2002-03 Brewer Shane Nance, who turns 36.
• 1995 Brewer Sid Roberson, who turns 42.
• 1983-88 Brewer and current Brewers TV analyst Bill Schroeder, who turns 55.
• 1971 Brewer Tommy Matchick, who turns 70.

Today is also the third anniversary of Trevor Hoffman collecting career save #600 and the 29th anniversary of Robin Yount playing his last game at shortstop. We covered those events in this space last year and two years ago, respectively.

Mark Rogers career in the Brewers organization may be done.

The Brewers had stuck with Mark Rogers throughout his rehab, but the end of the road may be coming for Mark Rogers and the Brewers. With the September call-ups arriving, the Brewers had the chance to add Mark Rogers back to the active roster without sending anyone else down. Instead, they opted to remove Rogers from the 40-man roster. The Brewers have stuck with Rogers for several years, hoping that he would finally turn it around and live up to the potential they saw in him as a first-round draft pick. Instead, Rogers may move on in the offseason and try to recover his career in a new place.

One Michael Blazek is seen as fair trade value for one John Axford.

Just over a week ago, John Axford was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. At the time, it was for a player to be named later. The player was named a few days later, as Michael Blazek was named as the player to complete the trade. Blazek has bounced between Double-A and Triple-A for the last three seasons before making his MLB debut in 2013, Considering what the Brewers had left with Axford, it was a good haul for the Brewers. Whether Blazek will be good for the Brewers or not remains to be seen, though he did start to show signs of turning things around this year in the Brewers minors.

The Brewers don't play well in interleague play.

Over the last weekend, the Brewers played their final interleague series of the season. A three-game series at home against the Angels didn't go the Brewers way, and they ended up being swept in the series. Over the season, the Brewers accumulated a record of 6-14 in interleague games. Depending on how the last few interleague series around MLB go, that could be the worst record among all MLB teams. With interleague games a regular part of the MLB schedule now, the Brewers will have to get better at interleague games if they want to compete again in future seasons.

Several players earned September call-ups.

With September 1st arriving, the Brewers took the opportunity to supplement their roster with a few minor league callups. They promoted four additional players: Donovan Hand, Sean Halton, Johnny Hellweg, and Jimmy Nelson. With the addition of Alfredo Figaro last week and Michael Blazek earlier in week, that's a total of six new players on the Brewers roster in just over a week. Four of those players will work from the bullpen, one in the rotation, and one as a bench player.

Though four players were called up, there were many others left in the minors to end their season. On Tuesday, Alec covered several of these players in his recap of the best and worst minor-league performances in the month of August. Several players impressed in the month as their season came to a close, while others struggled over that last month. That last month could impact the Brewers plans on who gets promoted, demoted, and sent to fall/winter leagues to get more experience.

Three people still want Yuniesky Betancourt as the starting first baseman.

There are a few brave people out there that still want Yuniesky Betancourt as the Brewers starting first baseman. Meanwhile, the other 98% of people want someone else to be the starter. In fact, more people would rather have any other player at first base over Betancourt. While he was a stop-gap measure to cover first base after the Brewers lost both Corey Hart and Mat Gamel for the season, it has become obvious that he is not a solution for anything for the Brewers lately. He posted a 0.3 fWAR in April, but has posted a -2.0 fWAR ever since (with a -1.7 fWAR in May and June). Will the Brewers decide to cut the ties with Betancourt before the end of the season? Considering there are only 22 games left, it doesn't look too likely.

Johnny Hellweg (10.97 ERA, 6.42 FIP) was recently named the Pacific Coast League's Pitcher of the Year. And while I don't mean to imply he didn't deserve it, he probably skated by on a somewhat lucky 3.15 ERA. Hellweg had control issues galore with Nashville, posting a 5.8 BB/9, which led to a 1.46 WHIP. Some pitchers can get out of those situations with big strikeout numbers. Hellweg did not have big strikeout numbers. While he has shown the ability to make hitters miss in the past, his 6.4 K/9 barely eclipses his walk rate.

Hellweg was up in the majors earlier in the season. His results weren't pretty. He had a 3:13 K:BB ratio in just over 10 innings while starting three games and coming on in relief in a fourth. He gave up 19 hits. He allowed 13 earned runs, but a whopping 20 overall runs in just 10 innings. Yikes. Hellweg is hopefully a big part of the Brewers future, but unless he starts cutting way back on his walks, there's no chance he succeeds in the MLB.

In fact, he might be at risk of flaming out just like Jake Arrieta (5.33 ERA, 4.73 FIP) has done so far. Once a top prospect in the Orioles' system, Arrieta has never found success at the major league level. While Arrieta's control isn't perfect, it wasn't as bad as Hellweg's. Arrieta also put up bigger strikeouts numbers.

In fact, in 2012, things didn't look so bad for him: He had an 8.6 K/9 and a 2.7 BB/9. Pretty good, right? A 1.3 HR/9 wasn't ideal, but it's not enough to kill a pitcher. As it turns out, 2012 was Arrieta's worst season as far as giving up runs: He had a 6.20 ERA and put one of the final nails in his coffin with the Orioles.

Arrieta was traded to the Cubs earlier in the season alongside Pedro Strop in the deal that brought Scott Feldman to Baltimore.

Lineups:

In the bullpen:

• Jimmy Nelson pitched two innings (19 pitches) yesterday.
• Michael Blazek pitched one inning (23 pitches) yesterday.
• Burke Badenhop pitched one inning (18 pitches) on Wednesday.
• Rob Wooten pitched one inning (18 pitches) on Wednesday.
• Donovan Hand pitched .2 innings (six pitches) on Wednesday.
• Michael Gonzalez pitched .1 innings (ten pitches) on Wednesday.
• Brandon Kintzler and Jim Henderson last pitched on Tuesday.
• Alfredo Figaro last pitched on Monday.
• Tom Gorzelanny last pitched on Monday, left with shoulder soreness and may not be with the team this weekend.

Are you seeking Saturday's game threads? You have come to the right place.

Cubs lineup:

xxxx

Brewers lineup:

xxxx

Today's Starting Pitchers

Jake Arrieta Cubs vs. Johnny Hellweg Brewers vs. Mil -- vs. Cubs

Today's game is on CSN Chicago.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Brewers site Brew Crew Ball. The usual caution is advised.

Here's the scoop on game threads for 2013. You'll find the game preview -- like this one -- posting as the first link in the StoryStream™, which will then contain all the overflow threads and the recap. The recap will also be on the front page as a separate post; once I post a game recap, the stream for each game will be retitled "Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week) Game Threads" so you can go back and find every thread related to that particular game.

In general, game previews will post two hours before game time. Exception: for day games after night games, that will usually be 90 minutes.

You will also be able to find the First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads in the box marked "Chicago Cubs Game Threads" at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). They will also appear in this StoryStream™. As I've done for each regular-season game for several years now, we'll have the First Pitch thread at five minutes before game time (moved up from actual game time per your requests), then an overflow one hour, two hours and 2:45 after game time.

The Cubs are 4-3 so far this homestand; if they win Saturday's game, that will clinch the first winning homestand since they went 5-4 against the Pirates, Angels and Cardinals just before the All-Star break. (That included an interruption for a makeup game at the Cell against the White Sox, which they also won.)

The Cubs are just 7-18 at home since the break, so winning a homestand would be a nice change. A win would also give the Cubs 61 victories on the season, matching their total from 2012.

Baby steps, right?

Cubs lineup:

Castro SS, Barney 2B, Rizzo 1B, Schierholtz RF, Sweeney CF, Bogusevic LF, Valbuena 3B, Castillo C, Arrieta P

Brewers lineup:

Aoki RF, Segura SS, Lucroy C, Ramirez 3B, Gennett 2B, Gindl LF, Francisco 1B, Schafer CF, Hellweg P

Today's Starting Pitchers

Jake Arrieta Cubs vs. Johnny Hellweg Brewers vs. Mil -- vs. Cubs

Jake Arrieta made his Cubs debut against the Brewers in the second game of a doubleheader July 30. The Cubs lost the game, but never mind that. Arrieta threw six strong innings, allowing just two hits and one run (a home run by Juan Francisco). A repeat of that performance would be nice; Arrieta has a shot at the 2014 rotation and continued good starts would help his case. The numbers above are Arrieta's full-season stats; here are his Cubs-only numbers:

Johnny Hellweg had a decent year at Triple-A Louisville in the Brewers organization -- caveat, he walked 81 batters in 125⅔ innings there. He has continued doing that in his four appearances (three starts) with Milwaukee -- 13 walks and only three strikeouts in 10⅔ innings. Be patient today, Cubs hitters.

Today's game is on CSN Chicago.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Brewers site Brew Crew Ball. The usual caution is advised.

Here's the scoop on game threads for 2013. You'll find the game preview -- like this one -- posting as the first link in the StoryStream™, which will then contain all the overflow threads and the recap. The recap will also be on the front page as a separate post; once I post a game recap, the stream for each game will be retitled "Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week) Game Threads" so you can go back and find every thread related to that particular game.

In general, game previews will post two hours before game time. Exception: for day games after night games, that will usually be 90 minutes.

You will also be able to find the First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads in the box marked "Chicago Cubs Game Threads" at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). They will also appear in this StoryStream™. As I've done for each regular-season game for several years now, we'll have the First Pitch thread at five minutes before game time (moved up from actual game time per your requests), then an overflow one hour, two hours and 2:45 after game time.

----

----

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Win: Johnny Hellweg (1-3)
Loss: Jake Arrieta (3-4)
Save: Jim Henderson (23)

HR: Valbuena (10), Bogusevic (4)

MVP: Logan Schafer (.231 WPA)
LVP: Jean Segura (-.189 WPA)

Fangraphs Win Expectancy Graph
Boxscore

Some people--a lot of people?--aren't going to agree with this: I'm disappointed the Brewers won. Not that I'm despairing on the fact that they tried to win. Team's shouldn't throw a game willingly with no positive reasons i.e. starting young players. But I would have rather seen the Brewers lose and move ahead of the Cubs (behind the Cubs) for the fourth spot in the 2014 draft. The Brewers left behind 20 losing seasons by getting consistently high draft picks. I don't want a top pick for the next ten years or anything, but at this point, a good pick next year would be nice.

Me, I want the best possible result from the remainder of the 2013 season. To me, the best possible result would be getting the best possible draft pick and/or playing young players consistently, sometimes ahead of guys like Aramis Ramirez and Norichika Aoki and Rickie Weeks. I want to learn more about the young players and whether they can contribute in future years, and I want to acquire the best possible player in the draft.

The Brewers have done a good job at both for the most part. Khris Davis, Caleb Gindl, Logan Schafer and Scooter Gennett have all gotten good playing time. Tyler Thornburg and Johnny Hellweg are getting starts. And the Brewers are still in line for the fifth pick in next years draft. But man, they are so close to taking the fourth pick from the Cubs and have a decent shot at overtaking the White Sox for the third pick. Overtaking the Marlins and Astros is probably too much to ask for. Oh well. I won't complain about winning. I'm just very OK with losing at this point.

Speaking of Hellweg, he was OK today. He threw six innings and earned a quality start with three earned runs against him. He also only allowed four hits. But the lack of control was still there: He gave up three walks while throwing a strike 60% of the time. Not the worst, but he could improve.

The Cubs scored first with a two-run Luis Valbuena homer in the second inning. Through three innings, Cubs starter Jake Arrieta had allowed just two walks, but blew up in the fourth inning. Jonathan Lucroy and Aramis Ramirez both reached base to lead off the inning before Scooter Gennett drove in a run with a single. Caleb Gindl walked to load the bases. After Juan Francisco struck out for the first out of the inning, Logan Schafer tripled to bring home three runs and give Milwaukee a 4-2 lead.

Brian Bogusevic homered in the sixth to cut the lead to one run. The Brewers got an insurance run in the ninth, however, as Jonathan Lucroy tripled with Norichika Aoki on base. Jim Henderson had no problems in the bottom of the frame, and that was that.

The Brewers and Cubs play one more tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 1:20 CT.

The Cubs' 5-3 loss to the Brewers was just like so many this year -- missed opportunities, bad pitching and defensive lases -- so the most interesting thing that happened was when Chang-Yong Lim entered the game in the seventh inning.

When Lim, a 37-year-old Korean who pitched several years in Japan's NPB before having Tommy John surgery, made his first pitch as a Cub, he became the 54th Cub to appear this season. That breaks the franchise record for most players used by the Cubs in one year, which was set... last year. (The previous record, 49, had been set in 1966.)

There are still three more Cubs who haven't appeared this year: Scott Baker, who will become No. 55 when he starts Sunday's game; third catcher J.C. Boscan, who has done a great job warming up relievers in the bullpen since his recall; and just-acquired reliever Daniel Bard, who surely will get into at least one game before the season ends.

Which raises the question: Could Theo and Jed find two more guys off the waiver wire before September 29? Because the major-league record for players used in a season by one team is 59, set in 2002 by both the Indians and Padres. If you're going to go through that many players, why not be a record-setter? Or at least record-tier? (Or is that "tyer"?)

For his part, Lim, who had a 0.896 WHIP at four stops in the Cubs' system this year before his recall, walked the first big-league batter he faced (pinch-hitter Sean Halton), gave up a single to Norichika Aoki (who was a teammate of his in Japan) and then got out of the inning with a 6-4-3 double play right after Chris Bosio and Lim's interpreter went out to the mound for a meeting. Whatever they said apparently worked.

I think you can tell there wasn't much to say about this game that hasn't already been said about the 2013 Cubs. You can tell why many people have said Jake Arrieta might be better-suited to bullpen work. He threw two quick and efficient innings, hit the leadoff man and issued a walk in the third, and then got in more trouble with walks in the fourth, sandwiched around a pair of hits that scored a run. Then, with the bases loaded, Logan Schafer sliced a triple into the right-center field gap, clearing the bases.

Arrieta threw a 1-2-3 fifth, but, as the saying goes, the damage was done. This is exactly the kind of start that drove Orioles fans nuts, because you can tell how much talent Arrieta has; he just might not be suited to starting. Why not see if he's closer material?

Meanwhile, the Cubs were hitting still more home runs in an attempt to get back into the game. Luis Valbuena hit a two-run shot, his first since returning from the DL, to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead in the second; Brian Bogusevic's sixth-inning blast simply made it 4-3 Brewers before an error by Starlin Castro helped lead to an unearned run off Blake Parker in the ninth inning to complete the scoring.

It figures, doesn't it? Brewers starter Johnny Hellweg had walked 13 batters in 10⅔ major-league innings since his recall. In six innings Saturday, he walked just two, while Cubs pitchers walked seven Brewers. That is, as I wrote above, just the way this season has gone.

The loss mathematically eliminated the Cubs from the N.L. Central title race (obviously, they were in effect out of it months ago). Their elimination number at this writing is still 1, but whoever wins the Pirates/Cardinals game will have 82 wins, eliminating the Cubs. A Reds win or Cubs loss Sunday will mathematically eliminate the Cubs from wild-card consideration, not that any of us had any legitimate hope of that in 2013, either.

Perhaps 2014 will be better. I'll leave you with a little story I heard before the gates opened Saturday. As you know, the game time for Saturday's contest was changed several weeks ago when Fox-TV decided they didn't want this game as part of their trio of contests at noon CT (it was on the original schedule as a Fox game).

A couple of people showed up just before noon thinking they'd walk right in and see the first pitch, only to be told by security that the game was at 3:05, and they'd have to wait around an hour until the gates opened. One of them got quite upset and asked to speak to "the president of Wrigley."

Just who would that be, anyway?

The Cubs still have a shot at a winning homestand if they can win Sunday's game. As noted above, Scott Baker will make his season and Cubs debut, facing Milwaukee's Yovani Gallardo.

If you seek Sunday's game threads, you have come to the right place.

Cubs lineup:

xxxx

Brewers lineup:

xxxx

Today's Starting Pitchers

Travis Wood Cubs vs. Yovani Gallardo Brewers vs. Mil -- vs. Cubs

Today's game is on WGN.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Brewers site Brew Crew Ball. The usual caution is advised.

Here's the scoop on game threads for 2013. You'll find the game preview -- like this one -- posting as the first link in the StoryStream™, which will then contain all the overflow threads and the recap. The recap will also be on the front page as a separate post; once I post a game recap, the stream for each game will be retitled "Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week) Game Threads" so you can go back and find every thread related to that particular game.

In general, game previews will post two hours before game time. Exception: for day games after night games, that will usually be 90 minutes.

You will also be able to find the First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads in the box marked "Chicago Cubs Game Threads" at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). They will also appear in this StoryStream™. As I've done for each regular-season game for several years now, we'll have the First Pitch thread at five minutes before game time (moved up from actual game time per your requests), then an overflow one hour, two hours and 2:45 after game time.

$5.5 million and five months after the Cubs hoped he would debut, Scott Baker will make his first major-league start for the team Sunday afternoon.

Baker's eight rehab starts can be seen as bad -- because the results were indeed mediocre at best. 5.46 ERA, 1.517 WHIP in 29⅔ innings. That's not even four innings per start. On the other hand, consider it as spring training for him, since he missed almost all of spring training.

In short, who knows? I will say this: if Baker shows well today (he'll be limited to about 90 pitches), I'd keep him in the rotation for the rest of the year (maybe 3-4 more starts) to see if it's worth re-signing him for 2014. Jake Arrieta could be moved to relief, where he might actually be better-suited.

I'm hoping for good results today, win or lose, from Baker. The Cubs can use all the starting-pitching options they can get. More on Baker below.

As noted in yesterday's recap, a Cubs loss or a Reds win Sunday will complete the Cubs' mathematical elimination from the 2013 postseason. (Obviously, the de facto elimination happened months ago.) A Cubs defeat would also clinch the team's fourth straight losing season, something that hasn't happened in 25 years, since 1985-88.

Cubs lineup:

Castro SS, Valbuena 3B, Rizzo 1B, Schierholtz RF, Bogusevic LF, Murphy 2B, Lake CF, Castillo C, Baker P 

Brewers lineup:

Aoki RF, Segura SS, Lucroy C, Ramirez 3B, Gomez CF, Gennett 2B, Betancourt 1B, Schafer LF, Gallardo P

Today's Starting Pitchers

Scott Baker Cubs vs. Yovani Gallardo Brewers vs. Mil -- vs. Cubs

Scott Baker last faced the Brewers June 24, 2011, and that tells a tale: not only has it been more than two years for Baker since his last big-league game, but look at that Milwaukee lineup: just two players who appeared in that game for the Brewers are on their active roster today (Jonathan Lucroy and Yuniesky Betancourt, and Betancourt left and came back). Current Brewers are just 9-for-34 against Baker, and 31 of those AB are Betancourt's.

Yovani Gallardo should be hitting his prime at age 27, but he is having the worst year of his career. That's reflected in his two starts against the Cubs: 8⅔ innings, six earned runs, seven walks, six strikeouts. We'd take that again today. Current Cubs are 32-for-118 (.271) against Gallardo with one home run (Ryan Sweeney).

Today's game is on WGN.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Brewers site Brew Crew Ball. The usual caution is advised.

Here's the scoop on game threads for 2013. You'll find the game preview -- like this one -- posting as the first link in the StoryStream™, which will then contain all the overflow threads and the recap. The recap will also be on the front page as a separate post; once I post a game recap, the stream for each game will be retitled "Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week) Game Threads" so you can go back and find every thread related to that particular game.

In general, game previews will post two hours before game time. Exception: for day games after night games, that will usually be 90 minutes.

You will also be able to find the First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads in the box marked "Chicago Cubs Game Threads" at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). They will also appear in this StoryStream™. As I've done for each regular-season game for several years now, we'll have the First Pitch thread at five minutes before game time (moved up from actual game time per your requests), then an overflow one hour, two hours and 2:45 after game time.

----

----

----

Win: Yovani Gallardo (11-9)
Loss: Justin Grimm (7-8)
save: Jim Henderson (24)

HR: Lake (6)

MVP: Gallardo (.298 WPA)
LVP: Jonathan Lucroy (-.101 WPA)

Fangraphs Win Expectancy Graph
Boxscore

Maybe I was wrong about wanting to shut down Gallardo for the season.

Gallardo has made four starts since coming off the DL in August. All four starts have been very good. Sunday was his best yet, and one of his best starts of the season.

He went seven innings, allowing just three hits to the Cubs. He walked one batter, but struck out six. The only run against him came in the fifth inning, when Junior Lake hit a home run. That was almost enough for the Cubs to win, though, as Scott Baker matched Gallardo pitch-for-pitch.

The Brewers didn't put a run on the board until the seventh inning. They made that inning count, scoring all three of their runs on the day. Jeff Bianchi singled home the first two runs while Gallardo himself brought home the third and final run with a single of his own.

The Brewers move on to a series with the Cardinals next. Know what I said about preferring the losses yesterday? Yeah, forget that for the next three days.