The Milwaukee Brewers (44-61) will continue their slog through the rest of the 2013 season without Ryan Braun today at 2:20 p.m. at Wrigley Field, where they'll face the Chicago Cubs (48-56), an equally poor team in 2013, but one with a clearer path to success. The game can be live streamed here; Cubs fans can hear the game on WGN 720, while Brewers fans can listen to the action on WTMJ 620.
The Cubs have dealt away their veteran pieces for what they hope are future contributors already. Gone are Scott Feldman, Matt Garza, and Alfonso Soriano. In return they received a potential closer from the Baltimore Orioles in Pedro Strop, a powerful corner infielder in Mike Olt from the Rangers farm, as well as a Single A pitching prospect with vast potential, and a Single A pitcher named Corey Black from the Yankees whom general manager Brian Cashman was loathe to surrender.
They move forward with a young core frontlined by shortstop Starlin Castro and first baseman Anthony Rizzo. Today, they trot out Carlos Villanueva (2-7, 4.23 ERA) who is pitching the rest of 2013 in a bid to be part of the Cubs future.
The Brewers have young talent as well, such as shortstop Jean Segura and Carlos Gomez, but their pitching cupboard is barren, and their top hurler Yovani Gallardo (8-9, 4.88 ERA) has been a mess all season.
Manager Ron Roenicke talked about Gallardo's issues, telling media:
"This is a guy that's always been known for his consistency and to be able to pitch a lot of games in a row where they're all great games, whether you want to call them quality starts or however you want to describe them, they're really good ballgames. And he does this for a long period of time -- and this year, he hasn't been able to do that."
The Brewers and Cubs will meet again at 8:05 p.m. for a second game with Milwaukee pitting Tyler Thornberg (1-0, 2.95 ERA) against Jake Arrieta (1-2, 7.23 ERA).
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