CHICAGO -- It is October in an even-numbered year, and the San Francisco Giants appear to be following their usual routine. The Chicago Cubs think their time is now.
Welcome to an intriguing NL Division Series.
Today’s NLDS games
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS AT CHICAGO CUBS
STARTING PITCHERS
SAN FRANCISCO Johnny Cueto
CHICAGO Jon Lester
WHEN 8:15 p.m. Central
WHERE Wrigley Field, Chicago
TELEVISION FS1
LOS ANGELES DODGERS AT WASHINGTON NATIONALS
WHEN 4:38 p.m. Central
WHERE Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
TELEVISION FS1
STARTING PITCHERS Washington (Matt Scherzer 20-7); Los Angeles (Clayton Kershaw 12-4)
NL postseason glance
DIVISION SERIES
Best-of-5; x-if necessary All times Central
CHICAGO VS. SAN FRANCISCO
TODAY’S GAME San Francisco (Cueto 18-5) at Chicago (Lester 19-5), 8:15 p.m. (FS1)
SATURDAY’S GAME San Francisco (Moore 6-5) at Chicago (Hendricks 16-8), 7:08 p.m. (MLB)
MONDAY’S GAME Chicago (Arrieta 18-8) at San Francisco (TBA), TBA (FS1/MLB)
x-TUESDAY, OCT. 11 Chicago (Lackey 11-8) at San Francisco (TBA), TBA (FS1)
x-THURSDAY, OCT. 13 San Francisco at Chicago, TBA (FS1)
x-THURSDAY, OCT. 13 Los Angeles at Washington, TBA (FS1)
NL DIVISION SERIES
San Francisco Giants at Chicago Cubs
8:15 p.m. Central today, Fox Sports 1
SCHEDULE All times Central GAME 1 Today at Chicago, 8:15 p.m. (FS1); GAME 2 Saturday at Chicago, 7:08 p.m. (MLB Network); GAME 3 Monday at San Francisco, TBA (FS1/MLB); GAME 4 (if necessary) Tuesday at San Francisco, TBA (FS1); GAME 5 (if necessary) Oct. 13 at Chicago, TBA (FS1) SEASON SERIES Cubs won 4-3
PROJECTED LINEUPS
GIANTS
PLAYER, POS. AVG. HR RBI
Denard Span, CF .266 11 52
Brandon Belt, 1B .275 17 82
Buster Posey, C .288 14 80
Hunter Pence, RF .289 13 57
Brandon Crawford, SS .275 12 84
Angel Pagan, LF .277 12 55
Joe Panik, 2B .239 10 62
Conor Gillaspie, 3B .262 6 25
Eduardo Nunez, 3B .288 16 67
STARTING PITCHER
PLAYER, POS. REC. ERA
Johnny Cueto, RHP 18-5 2.79
RELIEVERS
RHP Sergio Romo (1-0, 2.64 ERA, 4 saves), RHP Derek Law (4-2, 2.13), LHP Javier Lopez (1-3, 4.05), LHP Will Smith (2-4, 3.35), RHP Hunter Strickland (3-3, 3.10), RHP Santiago Casilla (2-5, 3.57, 31 saves), RHP George Kontos (3-2, 2.53), LHP Steven Okert (0-0, 3.21)
CUBS
PLAYER, POS. AVG. HR RBI
Dexter Fowler, CF .276 13 48
Kris Bryant, 3B/LF .292 39 102
Anthony Rizzo, 1B .292 32 109
Ben Zobrist, 2B/LF .272 18 76
Jason Heyward, RF .230 7 49
Addison Russell, SS .238 21 95
Rajai Davis, LF .249 12 48
David Ross, C .229 10 32
Javier Baez, 2B/3B/SS .273 14 59
STARTING PITCHER
PLAYER, POS. REC. ERA
Jon Lester, LHP 19-5 2.44
RELIEVERS
LHP Aroldis Chapman (4-1, 1.55 ERA, 36 saves), RHP Hector Rondon (2-3, 3.53, 18 saves), RHP Pedro Strop (2-2, 2.85), RHP Trevor Cahill (4-4, 2.74), RHP Justin Grimm (2-1, 4.10), LHP Mike Montgomery (4-5, 2.52), LHP Travis Wood (4-0, 2.95)
Fresh off a wild-card victory in New York, the Giants were brimming with confidence when they arrived in Chicago on Thursday, albeit a bit late due to travel problems. Madison Bumgarner's four-hitter in Wednesday night's 3-0 victory against the Mets means he likely is pushed back until at least Game 3, but the Giants have 18-game winner Johnny Cueto ready to go for tonight's series opener at Wrigley Field.
San Francisco stumbled in the second half of the season, then closed with five victories in six games to hold onto the second NL wild card. The Giants won the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014, and Manager Bruce Bochy and company feel this is their part of the calendar.
"The moment won't bother these guys," Bochy said.
The Giants' sustained success is exactly what the Cubs are hoping to string together. It has been 108 years since the North Siders last won the World Series -- a number that will chase them around for as long as they stick around in this year's playoffs -- but the Cubs made it to the NL Championship Series in 2015 and led the majors with 103 victories this season.
With a deep rotation and young sluggers in Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, the Cubs are positioned to challenge for titles for years to come. They want to start right now, and the Giants are standing in their way.
"Every year they're in it. Every year they're contending. Every year they have a chance to win the World Series," said left-hander Jon Lester, who will start Game 1 for the Cubs. "So I think that's what every team wants, not just us. I think they're an organization that a lot of teams look after to figure out how, why, how to get to that point.
"It's a model of consistency. It's impressive to see what they do."
The Cubs clinched the NL Central title way back on Sept. 15, giving them a couple of weeks to rest a few bumps and bruises and get their pitching staff ready for the playoffs. Even Manager Joe Maddon is interested to see how they respond after four days off.
"Yeah, we're going to find out," Maddon said. "I thought we handled the last couple days well."
One of the key moments in Chicago's run to a wild card last season was a four-game sweep of San Francisco in August. If this year's seven-game season series is any indication of what the playoffs will look like, get ready for a string of tight, low-scoring matchups.
The final five games were decided by one run, including Chicago taking three of four at home last month. The Cubs won four times and outscored the Giants 23-17 this year, but one of their wins was an 8-1 victory.
"We've got our work cut out for us," said Jake Arrieta, who likely will match up with Bumgarner in Game 3. "We've had a nice amount of time off. Now it's going to be nice to get back on the field and playing some meaningful games."
Cueto is very familiar with the Cubs and Wrigley Field after spending the first 7½ years of his major league career with Cincinnati.
"I like to pitch when it's a sold-out crowd with everybody cheering for me or against me and that kind of motivates me," Cueto said through a translator.
Sports on 10/07/2016