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Cubs vs. White Sox: Hamels vs. Nova (Game 72)
CHC (39-32): LHP Cole Hamels (6-2, 2.98 ERA)
CHW 3(34-36): RHP Ivan Nova (3-5, 6.28 ERA)
First pitch 7:05pmCDT
The Cubs return home to take on their cross-city rivals. They remain 0.5 games behind Milwaukee with the Cards lagging an additional two games behind the Cubs. Cole Hamels made his third start without an earned run, going seven innings with 9 strikeouts in Colorado last time out. Few White Sox have seen much of him. Jon Jay and his 13 at-bats are on the IL. Jose Abreu is 4-9 with a homerun off of him. Hamels has been a tremendous groundball pitcher this year, and the White Sox have the second highest GB% behind the Marlins--that may provide some incentive for Maddon to start his best defensive infield. The general impatience of the Sox lineup should play to Hamels' favor, although he seems to have harnessed his command of late.
The White Sox are hovering around .500 as they bring along some of their younger players. Key players Yoan Moncada and Lucas Giolito have taken big steps forward, and Tim Anderson is riding an early season hot streak to what look like breakout numbers. Former Cubs prospect Eloy Jimenez has looked overmatched at times, but his power has shown up and he does have a 127 wRC+ since returning from the IL on May 20. Ivan Nova gets the start. He's had a rough 2019 on the mound, getting generally knocked around. He allowed four earned runs in 5.1 innings against the Yankees in his last start. Current Cubs are 41-139 against him. Rizzo, Contreras, Gonzalez, Baez, and Heyward have all slugged over .500 against him. The Cubs have posted a team wRC+ of 85 since the beginning of June. Javy Baez hasn't walked since May 31 and he's batting only .226 in June.
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