It was a long, onerous day for both the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs Tuesday, although the 19 total runs and two wins the G-Men put up certainly made it a bit better. Now they'll send out ace Tim Lincecum to try and record the eighth straight win for San Francisco against a Cubs team that all but depleted their bullpen during the double-header.
Lincecum (6-6 3.16 ERA) was absolutely lights out in his last outing of seven shutout innings against the Twins, striking out 12 along the way. Lincecum is 3-3 with a 3.50 ERA in seven career starts against the Cubs, and has a three consecutive quality start streak going as well, something he can hopefully continue and save as much of the bullpen as possible.
Facing Timmy today will be Ryan Dempster (5-6 5.31 ERA) who not only has to battle the Freak, but also battle to stay in the game to help out his shorthanded 'pen. Dempster is 5-8 with a 4.65 ERA in 24 games (14 starts) against San Francisco, while the Cubbies have won three of his last four starts, and seven of the last nine.
In other news Bruce Bochy named Cubs skipper Mike Quade to the All-Star squad to replace Jim Riggleman, who recently stepped down as manager of the Nationals.
First pitch is set for 5:05 p.m. PT this evening with coverage on CSN Bay Area and KNBR 680 AM.
For more on the Giants, head over to McCovey Chronicles.