The Cubs open a five-game homestand today. That isn't necessarily good news.

I commend you again, as usual on the first day of a series, to Russ La Croix' series preview, posted earlier this morning, if you have not yet seen it.

Since the beginning of 2012, the Cubs are 5-12 against the Brewers at Wrigley Field. That means this series is likely to go to Milwaukee. We can hope for better, but I'm trying to be realistic here.

ICYMI in yesterday's Cub Tracks, Jeff Samardzija is the unluckiest pitcher in major-league history through his first eight starts. Forget about the individual wins -- the Cubs are 1-7 in those eight games, primarily because they have scored a total 15 runs in those games. Compare that to the 17 they scored Monday night in St. Louis. Shark's run support is the lowest among 137 qualified starters in the major leagues.

Maybe they can just pretend they're playing the Cardinals again. Or Shark will throw a shutout and hit a home run himself.

Or something. This is getting really weird.

This afternoon's weather forecast would be acceptable. For November.

Showers likely, mainly before 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 48. Northeast wind 5 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Cubs lineup:

Bonifacio CF, Lake LF, Rizzo 1B, Castro SS, Valbuena 3B, Castillo C, Schierholtz RF, Barney 2B, Samardzija P

The Brewers lineup was not available at the time I wrote this post. Please check the BCB Twitter feed for the Brewers lineup.

Today's Starting Pitchers

Jeff Samardzija Cubs vs. Kyle Lohse Brewers vs. Mil -- vs. Cubs

More on Shark: He's allowed one run -- unearned -- in his last two starts, covering 15 innings. I mean, what else does a starting pitcher have to do? He's done his job well. Now it's up to his teammates. He has not faced the Brewers this year.

Kyle Lohse has been Kyle Lohse this year -- which is to say, good but not great, quite consistent, has seven of eight quality starts (for whatever that flawed stat is worth). He posted a 5.09 ERA in four starts against the Cubs last year. Current Cubs are hitting .275 (38-for-138) against him with five home runs, two by Nate Schierholtz, of all people. Maybe this can get Nate out of his slump.

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.

For 2014, we are going to have the same game-thread routine as 2013. Here's how it works.

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.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

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It was cold in Chicago today but the Brewers stayed hot!

Winning Pitcher: Kyle Lohse (5-1)

Losing Pitcher: Jeff Samardzija (0-4)

SV: Francisco Rodriguez (17)

Boxscore

The Cubes were in full effect in the early goings. Two errors in the first inning resulted in a Jonathan Lucroy RBI and then a run scored. Then in the second inning a passed ball allowed runners to advance to second and third for Jean Segura who drove them both in with a line drive single. The Brewers took an early 4-2 lead.

Kyle Lohse ran into a some problems in the 2nd inning. He allowed a base hit to Nate Shierholtz and then a home run to, of all people, Darwin Barney. He also gave up a hit to Jeff Samardzija but Emilio Bonafacio hit into an inning ending double play. The damage was done though and the Cubs cut the Brewers lead to 4-2.

The Brewers didn't score a run in the third, but the Cubes showed up again. Samardzija caught Mark Reynolds, who had walked, off base. In the rundown Anthony Rizzo ended up overthrowing and Reynolds advanced to second. There were two outs and Elian Herrera was batting so it didn't matter. If he stays up for an extended period I think he'll lead baseball in checked-swing strikeouts. Though, to be fair, he did have two doubles today, so maybe I'm just overly pessimistic when it comes to him.

In the third inning, Junior Lake led off with a solo home run. Rizzo then blooped in a single. Starling Castro popped up for the first out. Then Luis Valbuena grounded into what should have been the inning ending double play. Instead, Lyle "I'm Supposed to Be Here For My Defense" Overbay let the ball slip under his glove and the Cubs would have runners at the corners. Thankfully the next batter grounded to a competent infielder who was able to actually touch the ball and turn a double play to end the inning.

Lohse really calmed down after that inning. In fact, he pitched 4 more innings without giving up another run. He exited after the 7th with the 4-3 lead and has yet to give up more than 3 runs in a start.

Will Smith pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning, including a strikeout to Anthony Rizzo. The Brewers were unable to score in the top of the 9th so Francisco Rodriguez would enter for the save in the bottom half. His control looked shaky to start and he gave up a lead-off base hit to Starling Castro. Chris Coghlan came to the plate to drop down a bunt. He did but Rodriguez fielded the ball quickly and got the lead out. Welington Castillo popped up behind the plate and for a moment it looked like the wind would push it out of play but ultimately the ball ended up in Lucroy's glove for the second out. Schierholtz lined to Scooter Gennett, who caught the ball about a half a centimeter above the ground for the final out. Brewers improve to 26-15.

They're back at it tomorrow at 1:20, when Matt Garza faces Edwin Jackson.

More from Brew Crew Ball

Follow @BrewCrewBallFollow @SBNationMLB

• Miller Park South: Brewers @ Cubs series preview
• What we learned: May 16, 2014
• Brewers 4,Pirates 3: Shaky offense comes through in the end.
• What we learned: May 15, 2014
• Minor League Notes, 5-15-14

The Cubs lost yet another game by one run, their ninth such defeat of 2014.

The winter that wouldn't end raised its ugly head one more (hopefully, the last!) time in the Chicago area Friday morning, depositing big snowflakes in many of the northwest suburbs and bringing the "chill rains" that the late A. Bartlett Giamatti wrote usually come in October or November. It rained steadily at Wrigley Field until about half an hour before game time, then turned into an annoying off-and-on drizzle that was just pesky enough for the umbrellas to go up every now and again.

38 degrees at game time, wind from the northeast, rain... weather more suited to hockey than baseball, and in fact, it might have been nicer the day of the 2009 NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley than it was Friday afternoon.

The Cubs began the day as if they couldn't hold on to the baseball because it was too wet, or too cold, or too... something. They committed three errors in the first three innings and that helped spot the Brewers a 4-0 lead, and with Jeff Samardzija's usual run support, you'd have been forgiven if you thought the game was over by the time the Cubs came to bat in the bottom of the second inning with that 4-0 deficit.

Give the Cubs credit. They didn't quit. In that second inning, Nate Schierholtz singled (a victory in and of itself) and Darwin Barney homered into that northeast breeze, his second homer of the season, and then Junior Lake smacked another blast into the bleachers leading off the third, and suddenly the Cubs trailed by just one run. Hope!

It was at this point that the game was actually over, because from the fourth through the ninth innings, just six men reached base, five Brewers and one Cub, and none got past second base. In fact, at one point Milwaukee starter Kyle Lohse retired 13 straight Cubs (for 14 outs, as the first of those was Welington Castillo hitting into a rally-killing double play that ended the third inning). Will Smith added to his rapidly growing relief-pitching legend by retiring the side in order in the eighth, and the rejuvenated Francisco Rodriguez posted his major-league-leading 17th save, though Starlin Castro did lead off the ninth with a single. Personally, I wouldn't have given up an out by having Chris Coghlan bunt, but bunt he did, and bunt into a force play he did, pretty much killing any chance the Cubs had in the ninth.

You can see what a lockdown bullpen can do for a team with what the Brewers did Friday afternoon. Lohse had thrown 92 pitches through seven and was breezing, but Ron Roenicke had no hesitation in going to his pen in the eighth, and their pen came through for them.

Give the Cubs' pen credit, too -- they threw four shutout innings, allowing just three hits and a walk and striking out eight. All told, Cubs pitchers struck out 14 Brewers Friday afternoon, and again, if not for the errors resulting in a pair of the four Milwaukee runs being unearned, it could have wound up a Cubs win.

Coulda, shoulda, woulda. Or as the headline reads, a favorite phrase of Jack Brickhouse's when the Cubs came up shy of victory back in the 1950s and 1960s, something that happened in this way many, many times.

Also of interest: this weird, wavy pattern mowed into the grass in left field (I was told they did it in right field, too). Why? Who knows, but it's interesting. In person, it makes it look like there are little hills in the turf:

I did get an explanation of sorts as to why the Babe Ruth bobblehead instead of, say, Gabby Hartnett, who was responsible for the signature moment of the 1930s (and, probably, all of Cubs history). The Cubs apparently like to have family members of these long-ago players for first-pitch ceremonies and the seventh-inning stretch, and Babe Ruth's daughter Julia Ruth Stevens has been at Wrigley before. That's cool, but perhaps they could have found Hartnett relatives, too. In any case, there will be more 100th-anniversary celebrations two years from now when the 100th anniversary of the Cubs' first year in Wrigley will be commemorated. Perhaps then Gabby will get his recognition.

For this year's Cubs, they'll try it again Saturday afternoon against the Brewers with Edwin Jackson facing Matt Garza. Remember: bunts. Lots and lots of bunts. I did notice the Brewers spread out the shift against Anthony Rizzo Friday, and he responded with a single up the middle in his second at-bat. But if they give him (or anyone else) room to bunt against Garza..just get it done!

BCB's Danny Rockett got ripped off...

I was charged with securing a Babe Ruth 'Called Shot' bobblehead for Ann, the Las Vegas Cubs fan who has given me 14 free Cubs tickets this year… and I failed. 

I left my house a few hours earlier than usual for a little pre-gaming at Salt 'N Pepper Diner with Keith, a Wrigley Field virgin. We entered the rain-soaked ballpark with ample time to receive the bobbleheads. So, with bobbleheads in tow and no intention of sitting in Ann's actual row 534 nosebleed seats on a 40-degree, blustery Mayvember day,we settled in row 202 in the right field corner.

All of  the action in the game happened within the first three innings, and the misty air chased many Cubs faithful from the stands by the sixth inning. Keith and I moved down 10 rows because this was our view…

Of  course, I forgot the bobblehead at our old seats because of my distracting umbrella induced frustration!

But after one out in our closer, wetter seats, I remembered the bobblehead and retrieved it. Luckily it hadn't been swiped by a retreating fan. But it was a close call… our section had emptied in the rain.

After the game, another loss, I remembered Ann's bobblehead, and Keith and I headed over to "The Dugout",  one of the more reasonably priced establishments on Addison, and -- I know you're all going to judge me and you should, but I've been addicted for 26 years so please understand somewhat -- I went out for a smoke. Keith took off to meet his cousin Scotty of divorced Cubs Brick fame, and I chatted up the inebriates that inhabit Wrigleyville at 5 p.m. on a Friday. The Cubs crowd eventually turned into the afterwork crowd, and then to the typical Friday night bar crowd. It's a magical transformation akin to a zygote turning to an embryo, turning into a baby, turning into the type of jerk who would steal Ann's Babe Ruth called shot bobblehead while I was out feeding my addiction to nicotine. 

Now granted, I was out there longer than the normal cigarette would take an average addict. I chatted and meandered. I blow-harded and debated, and I stupidly trusted the anonymous inhabitants of The Dugout to not steal my bobblehead. But someone did.

I walked back in, and after settling my tab, realized the bobblehead I placed on the floor unhidden next to the door was gone. I approached a large group of Brewers fans at the bar, one of which hoarded three Babe Ruth called shot bobbleheads  in a plastic Cubs store bag, exactly the make and model of the Cubs store bag that my Babe Ruth bobblehead was carried in. I asked pointedly to the Brew Crewers, "Hey, did you guys see the bobblehead I left right here?" The crowd looked guilty as sin. And I've watched enough Discovery ID true crime TV shows to know which of them had snagged Ann's Babe Ruth bobblehead. The one who looked guilty! The one with the bag of bobbleheads!

.A girl from their group challenged me, "You shouldn't have left it lying around, I heard people were paying $100 for them on the street!"  She was right. I shouldn't have left it there. What was I thinking? Even though the bobblehead doesn't look like Babe Ruth. It's still a Babe Ruth bobblehead. Ann's Babe Ruth bobblehead! That still gives nobody the right to steal it! 

I lived in New York City for 18 years, and the two times I was robbed there, my nose was broken as well. But in the 1½ years I've been in Chicago, I've been robbed three times and never suffered more than the theft of a wallet, an awesome raincoat, and now a bobblehead. Hmmm…..so….

How do I know the Brewers fan stole my bobble head?

A. The guy with 3 bobbleheads simply seemed guilty and looked at his three-bobbleheaded bag when I asked if anyone saw my bobble head. Plus. He didn't say a word, when all his friends were vocal. Then again… bobblehead collectors don't talk much...

B. His friend randomly said to me that the "thief" has 3 kids.  (and now he has three bobbleheads)... as if it was a justification for his theft.

C. A Cubs fan would never steal Ann's bobblehead! Only a Brewers fan would!! Right? ... But mostly A and B.

So where have we come to as a society when we steal bobbleheads from each other?

Bobbleheads, people! Bobbleheads….

Now, all I have is the extra Joe Tinker bobblehead that I found during the '1910's series' to send to Ann. 

You think I can make Tinker point? Call a shot?

Nope. I tried. He just bobbles his head.

Lame immovable arms.

I'm sorry, Ann. On June 22 I'll get you a Mr. Potato Head Cubs keychain and make things right.

Or maybe just get this guy to impersonate a bobblehead at your next birthday party….. 

Mike Fiers strikes out lots of batters and more from the Brewers minors

Nashville Sounds (AAA) 21-20
Lost 6-5 vs Oklahoma City RedHawks (HOU) (box / pbp)

Huntsville Stars (AA) 28-14
Won 4-2 vs Birmingham Barons (CHW) (box / pbp)

Brevard County Manatees (High A) 21-18
Won 4-1 at Jupiter Hammerheads (MIA) (box / pbp)

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Low A) 19-21
Lost 4-3 (11 inn.) at Peoria Chiefs (STL) (box / pbp)

Player/Pitcher Points of Interest

The weather's supposed to be improved Saturday. Perhaps the Cubs baseball will, too.

35 years ago today, on a windy, warm afternoon at Wrigley Field, the Phillies beat the Cubs 23-22, the second-highest combined run total in major-league history.

I wasn't at this game -- I worked a regular day job at the time -- but following it after work was fun, and it went long after normal work hours, with 50 hits and 15 walks. At that time, Cubs weekday games started at 1:35 p.m., so the 4:03 game time had it ending at nearly 5:40. The Cubs trailed 7-0, 15-6 and 21-9 before tying the game 22-22 in the bottom of the eighth with a three-run rally. Had they won the game, they'd have tied the major-league record (which still stands) for biggest comeback (12 runs).

Instead, Cub-killer Mike Schmidt won it with a solo homer off Bruce Sutter with two out in the top of the 10th.

Those were fun times, despite the losses. It won't be nearly as warm this afternoon, but perhaps the Cubs could entertain us with a game like this one.

Cubs lineup:

Bonifacio CF, Coghlan LF, Rizzo 1B, Castro SS, Schierholtz RF, Castillo C, Olt 3B, Barney 2B, Jackson P

"Insert random left fielder into No. 2 spot in order."

The Brewers lineup was not available at the time I wrote this post. Please check the BCB Twitter feed for the Brewers lineup.

Today's Starting Pitchers

Edwin Jackson Cubs vs. Matt Garza Brewers vs. Mil -- vs. Cubs

Edwin Jackson's last two starts have been decent -- both quality starts -- and they have lowered his season ERA to 4.56, which is in the "normal" range for him. Keep this up and maybe the Cubs can even shed his contract. He has not faced the Brewers this year; overall current Brewers are 47-for-175 (.269) against him with six home runs, two by Jonathan Lucroy.

Matt Garza threw seven good innings against the Cubs April 25 at Miller Park. But will his return to Wrigley give him the fielding yips again? Will he fall down trying to field one of the bunts I hope the Cubs make against him? Will he throw a ball into the 10th row of the seats behind first base? We can only hope.

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.

For 2014, we are going to have the same game-thread routine as 2013. Here's how it works.

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.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Saturday's game threads are all right here.

Cubs lineup:

Bonifacio CF, Valbuena 3B, Rizzo 1B, Castro SS, Schierholtz RF, Kalish LF, Baker C, Barney 2B, Hammel P

Brewers lineup:

Carpenter 3B, Molina C, Holliday LF, Adams 1B, Craig RF, Peralta SS, Grichuk CF, Ellis 2B, Lynn P

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.

For 2014, we are going to have the same game-thread routine as 2013. Here's how it works.

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.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

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Best all-around game of the year, by a considerable margin.

Where has this Edwin Jackson been?

Saturday was Jackson's 40th start as a Cub, and this one was the best of the 40, and it's not close. He did have a scoreless seven-inning outing against the Cardinals last July, but struck out just five that day.

In Saturday's game, Jackson struck out 11, walked just one, allowed only four ground-ball singles and there wasn't a single putout made by an outfielder during his seven innings (Starlin Castro caught one popup in short center field, and in fact, no Cubs outfielder made a putout in the game).

The Cubs completed their 3-0 shutout of the Brewers with 1-2-3 innings from Neil Ramirez and Hector Rondon (fourth save), and that's the way things are supposed to work -- seven strong innings from your starter, and impeccable setup and closing relief. It's maddening because Jackson clearly has outstanding ability and talent. He threw 77 strikes in 115 pitches and though his pace was still fairly slow, his ability to get batters to hit the ball on the ground and sring and miss (all but two of the K's were swinging) had him utterly dominating Brewers hitters.

More of this, please. It's the first time since Jackson's very first Cub start in April 2013 that he finishes the game with an ERA under 4 (3.60 that day, 3.98 after Saturday).

Meanwhile, if you left this game after the first inning, you saw all the scoring. The Cubs decided to bunt on Matt Garza, and though we weren't entertained by one of his flings into the 10th row of the seats, Emilio Bonifacio bunted his way on base to lead off the first inning. Then Chris Coghlan sacrificed him to second. Did the bunts rattle Garza? Anthony Rizzo grounded out for the second out, but Starlin Castro ripped a double off the wall to score Bonifacio, and after a walk to Nate Schierholtz, Welington Castillo drove in a pair with a double down the line in left. Of Castillo's 17 RBI this year, 14 have come with two out.

And that was it, really. The Brewers had just three baserunners after the first inning, two singles and a walk, and the Cubs matched that baserunner total, with a single, a walk and Darwin Barney reaching on an error. After Barney got on base to lead off the second, Garza retired the next 12 Cubs in order until Rizzo led off the sixth with a single.

So, the complaint department is definitely closed after this one. Nicely done, Cubs. More of this would be good. It was the Cubs' third shutout of 2014, their second over the Brewers.

Today was apparently wedding party day at Wrigley. There were at least four bachelorette or bachelor parties in the bleachers, just in our section and the one adjacent. I doubt that any of those people had any idea what the score of the game was, and one bachelor party spent an inning yelling at the bachelorettes across the aisle. Good-natured yelling, but it still seemed pretty alcohol-fueled. There was also a wedding reception in the batter's eye suite and an actual wedding that took place on one of the rooftops during the game. (No word on whether any of their views of the game were blocked.)

I got a photo of a sign one of the groups held up. Pretty funny, actually.

So the Cubs, yet again, have a chance to win a series Sunday afternoon. Travis Wood will face Marco Estrada. It was warmer Saturday than Friday, though that was a low bar to hurdle. We're told it might touch 70 degrees Sunday with sunshine. That'd be nice. So would another win.

Matt Garza gives up three runs in the first inning, and the Brewers offense can't do anything to mount a comeback.

WP: Edwin Jackson (3-3)
LP: Matt Garza (2-4)
SV: Hector Rondon (4)

HR: None

MVP: Jonathan Lucroy (+.052)
LVP: Matt Garza (-.122)

Box Score

Win Expectancy Graph

This game ended up being all about the first inning.

The game began with strikeouts by Elian Herrera and Scooter Gennett. Ryan Braun and Jonathan Lucroy followed it with singles, but Mark Reynolds struck out to end the inning. Meanwhile, Matt Garza had a rough first inning. Emilio Bonifacio led off the bottom of the first with a single, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a ground out. Starlin Castro then hit a double to score the first run for the Cubs. Nate Schierholtz then walked and Wellington Castillo doubled to score both of them.  At the end of the first inning, the Cubs had a 3-0 lead.

After the first inning, it was all about the pitching. Matt Garza locked the Cubs offense down and limited them to two baserunners in the last six innings (one hit and one reached on an error). On the other side, Edwin Jackson kept the Brewers in check for the game. They had a total of two hits and a walk in the last eight innings. Jackson had 11 strikeouts in his start, and the Cubs pitchers totaled 14 strikeouts in the game.

For the Brewers offense, they never got past second base in the game.  Jonathan Lucroy had the best day with two hits, and Ryan Braun and Jean Segura also had hits in the game. They also lost Carlos Gomez before the game as he was scratched prior to the game. He is still day-to-day with his back injury.

The rubber match of the series is tomorrow afternoon at Wrigley Field. Marco Estrada makes the start for the Brewers, and Travis Wood goes for the Cubs. First pitch is at 1:20 pm.

A good day for Brewers starting pitchers

Nashville Sounds (AAA) 22-20
Won 10-4 vs Oklahoma City RedHawks (HOU) (box / pbp)

Huntsville Stars (AA) 29-14
Won 4-0 vs Birmingham Barons (CHW) (box / pbp)

Brevard County Manatees (High A) 22-18
Won 2-0 at Jupiter Hammerheads (MIA) (box / pbp)

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Low A) 19-22
Lost 2-1 (12 inn.) at Peoria Chiefs (STL) (box / pbp)

Player/Pitcher Points of Interest

Your 10-year-old nephew, the one playing Little League right now... if he's left-handed, he can probably get the Indians out.

There are a lot of things wrong with the Indians right now:

New acquisition John Axford has done so poorly he was removed from the closer's role...

The supposed-to-be-awesome Danny Salazar has done so poorly he was demoted to Triple-A...

The team has made 43 errors in 43 games, which is the absolute worst in baseball. Let's see, I'm no math expert, but I believe that gives them an average of exactly one error per game. There are 162 games in a season, so... (sorry for all the complex calculations) that puts them on pace for 162 errors. No MLB team has made that many since the 1993 Colorado Rockies, who at least had the excuse of being an expansion team.

Ugly, ugly stuff. Today though, I'm here to mention a different thing the Indians are doing worse than any team in recent history: Hit left-handed pitching.

The Indians are batting .212 as a team against lefties so far this season. That puts them last among all 30 MLB teams. They're not hitting for much pop when they do hit them either, leaving them with an MLB-worst .326 slugging percentage and an MLB-worst .612 OPS (and keep in mind that National League teams have pitchers getting a chunk of their at bats, yet the Tribe has done worse than any of them).

sOPS+ takes OPS in a particular split (in this case, hitting lefties) and compares it to the league average at that split. It's the same idea as OPS+, but only for whatever split you're interested in. The Indians' sOPS+ for hitting lefties is 71. Remember how Carlos Santana is in a brutal slump to begin this year, so bad that many Tribe fans want him out of the lineup? Well, his OPS+ this season is 78. That means that as a team, the Indians have been 7% worse than Carlos Santana so far this season. Yikes!

The last team with a lower OPS against left-handed pitchers than the Indians have right now was the 1982 Houston Astros. The last team with a lower slugging percentage was the 1981 San Diego Padres. The last team with a lower batting average was the 1971 Milwaukee Brewers.

Just about any way you slice it, the Indians are hitting lefties worse than any team in more than 30 years. And among AL teams, they're hitting lefties worse than any team since the designated hitter was implemented in 1973.

Regression to the mean tells us the Indians will almost certainly boost their current numbers, but even if their team batting average against southpaws goes up 20 points, it'll be the fifth worst in the American League over the last twenty years. Even if they boost it 30 points, it'll be among the 20 worst.

Same thing with with the slugging percentage, a 20-point boost will still place it among the five worst in the AL for the last two decades, and it will take a 45-point improvement to avoid the bottom 20 of the last 20 years.

The current OPS of .612 needs even more work to avoid landing among the very worst of recent history. Only three other AL teams in the last 20 years have been below .640 and only 16 have been below .670.

If you've got any left-handed friends, give them a call. There may be an AL Central team interested in giving them a job.

Sunday's game threads are all right here.

Cubs lineup:

Bonifacio CF, Valbuena 3B, Rizzo 1B, Castro SS, Schierholtz RF, Kalish LF, Baker C, Barney 2B, Hammel P

Brewers lineup:

Carpenter 3B, Molina C, Holliday LF, Adams 1B, Craig RF, Peralta SS, Grichuk CF, Ellis 2B, Lynn P

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.

For 2014, we are going to have the same game-thread routine as 2013. Here's how it works.

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.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

The Cubs have won just one series this year. Now they have a chance to win another!

The Cubs have won just one series this year -- two weeks ago against the Cardinals at Wrigley Field. This, you likely know.

They haven't won a series from the Brewers since June 25-26-27, 2013 at Miller Park. They haven't won a series from the Brewers at Wrigley Field since September 19-20-21, 2011 (!). Winning pitchers for the Cubs in the two games they won in that series were Casey Coleman and... Matt Garza.

Anyway, it's been a while. Time to change all that.

Also, this is odd. I realize it doesn't matter which TV channel the games are on and the players likely don't know or care which channel each game is on when they take the field. But these splits are weird:

WGN: 4-13
CSN: 10-11
WCIU: 0-2
ESPN: 0-1

Today's game is on WGN. Draw your own conclusions.

Cubs lineup:

Bonifacio CF, Lake LF, Rizzo 1B, Castro SS, Valbuena 2B, Castillo C, Olt 3B, Kalish RF, Wood P

Brewers lineup:

Weeks 2B, Segura SS, Braun RF, Lucroy C, Reynolds 1B, Davis LF, Bianchi 3B, Schafer CF, Estrada P

Today's Starting Pitchers

Travis Wood Cubs vs. Marco Estrada Brewers vs. Mil -- vs. Cubs

After a strong start to 2014, Travis Wood has struggled in his last two starts, with his ERA jumping from 3.35 to 4.91. This game is a pitching rematch of the game April 26 at Miller Park. Wood made it through two out in the sixth, but gave up seven hits and three walks and a home run to Khris Davis. Estrada threw 7⅔ strong innings, struck out nine and didn't walk anyone. A two-run homer by Welington Castillo and a solo shot by Luis Valbuena produced all the Cubs' runs. They'll probably need to do better than that to win this afternoon.

As noted above, 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.

For 2014, we are going to have the same game-thread routine as 2013. Here's how it works.

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.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

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