Today at 2:20 p.m. ET, two National League Central bottom dwellers square off as the Milwaukee Brewers (60-79) travel to Chicago to clash with the Cubs (59-80) in the first of a three-game weekend set at Wrigley Field. The game can be live streamed here. Brewers fans can hear all of the action on the radio at WTMJ 620 while Cubs fans can do the same by turning their dials to WGN 720.
Kyle Lohse (9-8, 3.32 ERA) takes the mound for the visiting Brewers while Chris Rusin (2-3, 2.74 ERA) toes the rubber for the hometown Cubs.
The game will be contested between two struggling teams as the Brew Crew sits in fourth place and the Cubs are in dead last in the NL Central. Both teams have had their troubles coming into this weekend's series as the Brewers were swept by the Los Angeles Angels last week and dropped two of three to the Pittsburgh Pirates earlier this week and the Cubs dropped two of three to the Miami Marlins, narrowly avoiding a sweep with a win Wednesday.
Rusin, 26, went 1-3 for the Cubs in six August starts, posting a 2.64 ERA during the month and is having a pretty productive season after struggling as a rookie in 2012.
"He was here last year and had some struggles, but [he] understood, 'This is what I have to do to get big league hitters out,'" Cubs manager Dale Sveum told MLB.com. "He's been able to do that. I think the biggest thing for him maturity-wise is making the pitches when he has to make them. That's been the difference."
Meanwhile, Lohse served up a career-high 13 hits two starts ago but played well against the Angels last Sunday, limiting them to just one run and seven hits. Lohse, 34, was originally drafted by the Cubs in the 29th round back in 1996, but never played for the team.
Shortstop Jean Segura will return to the Brewers lineup Friday after sitting out Wednesday with an illness. This season, Segura is hitting .304 with 12 homers, 46 RBIs. Segura's 39 stolen bases lead the league and he's looking to become the second player in Brewers franchise history to finish the season with the league lead in that category. Segura is second in the National League with 165 hits this year, trailing only St. Louis Cardinals' second baseman Matt Carpenter.
The Cubs are 19-37 against the NL Central this season, and are hoping to erase that trend as 20 of their final 23 games will be against division rivals. The Cubs hope that shortstop Starlin Castro will continue his great production, as he is hitting .314 with four doubles, two homers and seven RBIs in his last 12 games, according to MLB.com. This season, Castro is hitting .244 with nine homers and 39 RBIs.
It'll be a battle of two teams looking to turn their recent struggles around when the Brewers and Cubs take the field for a clash at Wrigley Field this afternoon.
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