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Well, at least I don't have to change the Diamondbacks pitcher for the Cubs game, since it's going to be the same one who was scheduled to start yesterday afternoon, until the weather intervened. As my final word on the wisdom of scheduling the opening series in Colorado, Shaun Rachau of the team Tweeted, "First time in my 16-year baseball career plane had to be de-iced prior to take off." 'Nuff said.
I'm writing this on Sunday night, as I've got some stuff to take care of in the morning, and am not sure when I'll be back - first pitch is at 11:20am Arizona time, so it's a good job I'm not working. At the moment though, it doesn't look like it'll exactly be much better in the Windy City than it was in the Mile-High one. 47 degrees, with a 30% change of precipitation and wind from the WNW at 19 mph, rising to 23 mph later in the afternoon, making it feel more like the high-thirties. We may have to chip Russell Branyan off the bench before sending him in to pinch-hit...
- Willie Bloomquist - SS
- Kelly Johnson - 2B
- Justn Upton - RF
- Russell Branyan - 1B
- Chris B. Young - CF
- Miguel Montero - C
- Ryan Roberts - 3B
- Gerardo Parra - LF
- Joe Saunders - LHP
No line-up at time of writing, but I'm sure someone will be kind enough to add it. [That'd be me! -snakecharmer] We face Randy Wells, who has won both his career starts against the Diamondbacks, allowing five earned runs in 13 innings, with a sparkling K:BB ratio of 18:1. Not much experience on the current team, no-one having more than six plate-appearances; the overall line of .222/.222/.370 doesn't exactly inspire much confidence. But this is a Cubs team that just got beaten in two of three at home by the Pirates.
Hey, I'm on my first recap, so I'm doubly keen to get everything done and dusted, in time for - once again - my first chance to watch our team in 2011. Hopefully, Arizona can build upon a couple of better than feared performances against Colorado, and get above .500.