Last Dance at Wrigley, Willy v Lester, Lineup & Notes

Today: Game time is 8:05 and will be broadcast by AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan.

Pitchers: RHP Trevor Williams (14-9, 3.04) closes the Cubby set against LHP Jon Lester (17-6, 3.43). This will be Willy's last star, and geez, what a second half. The 26-year-old righty owns an 8-2/1.00 slash in his last dozen starts, averaging just shy of six innings per outing. He's 1-1 in two starts against Chi-Town, giving up two runs in 13 IP. The 13-year vet Lester has been sharp in the stretch, going 6-1/1.96 in seven starts since mid-August. He's 3-1/3.72 in five starts against the Pirates this year, so he's not had his best days against Pittsburgh. Still, this should be a dandy matchup between two hot-as-pistols hurlers.

Willy's last hurrah for 2018 (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Lineup: Pablo Reyes LF, Starling Marte CF, J-Bell 1B, Fran Cervelli C, Jose Osuna RF, Josh Harrison 2B, Colin Moran 3B, Jordy SS & Willy P. More mix-and-match, with the first showing by Josh and Jordy since the Brewer series.

Notes:

• Today will decide the season series; the teams are tied at nine wins each. The Cubs won last year's set 10-9.
• The Bucs have posted a 41-31 record against teams from the Central (they have four divisional games remaining) this season for the best intra-divisional record among the five teams. It's only Pittsburgh’s second winning season against the Central since it was formed in 1994.
• No date has been set for Edgar Santana's TJ surgery as of  now.
• Colin Moran is hitting .301 over his last 53 games, and his 11 pinch hits over the season are tied for third in MLB. He's in tonight.
• Jordan Luplow has started 10 of the last 13 games, with two hits in his last 30 at bats. He's off tonight.
• Bad timing: Ric Rod surrendered his first run since August 14th in yesterday's walk off loss to the Cubs.