Bleed Cubbie Blue

Last Saturday's post, titled "The Final Cubs On Fox For 2009", was incorrect -- I had forgotten, at the time I posted it, that today's game had been added to Fox's schedule. Each MLB team can appear a maximum of nine times a season on the Fox Saturday game and this maxes out the Cubs. They are 4-4 in the previous eight games, so they'll be looking to finish the season with an over-.500 record in these games which can be seen...

... well, today, hardly anywhere. Despite the fact that the Red Sox and Yankees both have magic numbers of 3 (for the wild card and AL East, respectively), Fox is sending that game to the overwhelming majority of TV markets. Here is a complete list of where you can see the Cubs and Giants this afternoon:

Albuquerque; Casper, WY; Cedar Rapids, IA; Champaign, IL; Cheyenne, WY; Chicago; Chico, CA; Colorado Springs, CO; Columbia, MO; Davenport, IA; Denver; Eureka, CA; Evansville, IN; Ft. Wayne, IN; Fresno, CA; Grand Junction, CO; Indianapolis; Louisville; Madison, WI; Medford, OR; Milwaukee; Monterey, CA; Ottumwa, IA; Paducah, KY; Peoria, IL; Quincy, IL; Rapid City, SD; Reno, NV; Sacramento; San Francisco; Santa Barbara, CA; Sioux City, IA; South Bend, IN; Springfield, IL; St. Louis; Terre Haute, IN

Yep. That's it. Basically, areas with a lot of Cubs and Giants fans, a few places around the NL Central, and cities likely to have Rockies fans.

In addition to Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez, who both should return to the lineup this afternoon, some other Cubs are banged up:

Reliever Kevin Gregg is expected to be sidelined at least the rest of the weekend because of mild left rib inflammation. He has been sore since pitching Sunday in St. Louis.

Outfielder Sam Fuld, who has been limited in recent days by a sore wrist, was back in the lineup and is expected to get more playing time down the stretch, with prospect Tyler Colvin being used more as a defensive replacement.

Fuld had a nice game last night. I don't think any of us will miss Gregg too much.

Site note: I will be out this evening so today's game recap will be delayed either till late evening or early Sunday morning.

Today's Starting Pitchers

Tom Gorzelanny Cubs vs. Barry Zito Giants 6-2 W-L 10-12 5.08 ERA 3.99 39 SO 145 13 BB 74 5 HR 20 vs. SF -- vs. Cubs

Barry Zito has four career starts vs. the Cubs; lifetime record 1-2, 3.96, the ERA very close to his current season ERA, 3.99. However, Zito has been very good in the second half of this season; since the All-Star break, in 13 starts he's 5-3, 2.58. The one way the Cubs might get to him is with patience; he's issued 30 walks in 76.2 innings in those 13 starts. Reed Johnson, who may get the start today vs. the lefty Zito, is 4-for-13 against him and Derrek Lee, who should be back this afternoon, is 5-for-10.

Tom Gorzelanny had a good outing in Milwaukee on Monday, striking out nine and giving up two runs, both solo HR to Mike Cameron. The last time he pitched against the Giants, he threw a five-hit shutout on August 12, 2007, coincidentally, with Zito as his opponent. Only one Giant who started that day will likely play today -- Randy Winn -- who is 1-for-8 lifetime vs. Gorz. Gorzelanny has shown flashes of the pitcher he was two years ago with the Pirates and I think he matches up well with Zito.

Today's game, as noted above, is on a few Fox stations chosen by dartboard. For other games today see the MLB.com Mediacenter.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Giants site McCovey Chronicles. Grant, who runs the site, is one of SBN's best writers.

Overflow comment threads will post today at 4:15 and 5:15 pm CDT.

Discuss amongst yourselves.