Here Come Da Cubs, Nova v Lester, Lineup & Notes - Newman & Luplow Up, Jordy on DL, Jake Back to Indy, Sadler DFA'ed

Today: The game starts at 7:05 and will be carried by AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan. The weather is gonna be squirrelly, with a 50-60% chance of showers all night, with the odds increasing after 10 PM.

Pitchers: RHP Ivan Nova (7-6, 4.42) opens it up against LHP Jon Lester (12-5, 3.89). Ivan has gone 3-0/4.22 in his last six starts, decidedly meh. He has cut down on long balls, surrendering just one home run in his last five starts and his last outing was strong, so we'll see which Ivan shows up today. He's been good against Chicago this year with a slash of 2-0/2.84 in two outings. Lester has had a second-half meltdown, posting a 10.32 ERA in five starts since the All-Star break with opponents hitting .383 off him over that time. But he's 2-0 against the Pirates in 2018 after three starts. Lester was hit soundly (eight runs in 11 IP) in the first two outings but had plenty of run support, and his latest trip to the hill resulted in a one-hit shutout over seven innings, so he seems to have it in sync against Pittsburgh.

Ivan opens the Cub series (image AT&T SportsNet)

Lineup: Corey Dickerson LF, Starling Marte CF, Gregory Polanco RF, David Freese 3B, Elias Diaz C, J-Bell 1B, Josh Harrison 2B, Adeiny Hechavarria SS & Nova P. Well, whatever bothered Starling yesterday has passed, and Jordy in going to be MIA for awhile. It'll be interesting to see how much Pirate call-ups Kevin Newman and Jordan Luplow will get.

Notes:

• SS Kevin Newman has been called up from Indy; Jordy went on the DL with a calf sprain. RHP Casey Sadler was DFA'ed to make room on the 40-man roster. Newman is a contact guy,hitting .302 w/28 swiped sacks, and is considered a steady if average defender. He was the Bucs first-round pick in 2015. In another move, C Jake Stallings was returned to the Tribe and OF Jordan Luplow recalled, so the Bucs are showing some faith in Cervy as a backstop - oh, and maybe also noticed that the Cubs are starting four straight lefties.
• Rule 5 RHP Nick Burdi has been assigned to Indy after recovering from TJ surgery and then an minor quad sprain; if all goes according to schedule, we'll see him in September.
• Aye carumba - Gerrit Cole now has more 10-strikeout games in 25 starts with the Astros (7) than he did in 127 starts with the Pirates (6) per ESPN Stats & Info. Of course, that may  the result of a philosophic difference between franchises, as the Bucs preach a pitch-to-contact approach to its starters.
• Well, that was quick. George Kontos appeared in one game after his recall with the Yankees, tossing 1-2/3 shutout innings with one hit allowed and a pair of strikeouts, then was DFA'ed.