Padres at Cubs
The Chicago Cubs’ red-hot start is approaching historic proportions. The Cubs are the 10th team in major-league history to win at least 24 of its first 30 games – and the first since the 1984 Detroit Tigers – and look to add to their winning ways when they host the San Diego Padres for a three-game series starting Monday.
Chicago has won seven straight and 11 of 12 and is coming off a four-game sweep of the Washington Nationals. Javier Baez’s homer in the 13th inning lifted the Cubs to a 4-3 victory Sunday, improving their home mark to 11-3. The Padres dropped the final two games of their four-game set with the New York Mets over the weekend but have won or split their last three series, winning six of their last 10 games. San Diego has not lost a road series to the Cubs since 2012, going 6-4 at Wrigley Field over the past three seasons.
TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, FSN San Diego, CSN Chicago
PITCHING MATCHUP: Padres RH Cesar Vargas (0-1, 1.10 ERA) vs. Cubs LH Jon Lester (3-1, 1.58)
Vargas is trying to become the first Padres pitcher to open his career by allowing one run or fewer in each of his first four starts. The 24-year-old Mexican doesn’t miss a lot of bats – he has 12 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings – but hitters haven’t been able to square him up often. Vargas is still looking for his first win, though, as the Padres have totaled seven runs in his three starts.
Lester had his streak of five straight quality starts snapped with his last outing, but he didn’t allow a run over 5 2/3 innings in a win at Pittsburgh. The 32-year-old is still looking for his first win this season at Wrigley Field, where he is 0-1 with a 2.21 ERA in three starts. Lester has faced the Padres twice, going 0-1 with a 2.92 ERA.
WALK-OFFS
1. Cubs 2B/OF Ben Zobrist is 9-for-25 with four home runs during a seven-game hitting streak.
2. The Padres have averaged 6.2 runs in their 13 wins and 1.9 runs in their 19 losses.
3. The Cubs are 23-0 when leading after eight innings.