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Marlins vs. Cubs: Start time, how to watch, game thread and Fish Picks—WCS Game 1

Sandy Alcantara and Kyle Hendricks will start Game 1 of the Wild Card Series at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Full Marlins-Cubs game preview in here.

By Ely Sussman Updated
@Marlins/Twitter

Welcome to Wednesday’s Marlins vs. Cubs game thread for Game 1 of the 2020 Wild Card Series, just the beginning of what the club hopes is a month-long postseason ride. Ethan Budowsky has a detailed preview for you on YouTube and the Fish Stripes podcast.

Here is the all-important weather forecast for the series opener:

The Fish Picks contest is continuing for these critical games! Free-to-play daily prop bets for all fans to make. Prizes includes these new Marlins-themed t-shirts.

The Fish Picks leaderboard will update daily to let you know where you stand.

Marlins Lineup

  1. LF Corey Dickerson
  2. CF Starling Marte
  3. DH Jesús Aguilar
  4. 3B Brian Anderson
  5. 1B Garrett Cooper
  6. RF Matt Joyce
  7. 2B Jon Berti
  8. SS Miguel Rojas
  9. C Chad Wallach

P Sandy Alcantara (3.00 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 22.7 K%, 32.5 Hard Hit% in 42.0 IP)

Baseball Savant

Notes: As tracked by Sports Betting Dime, the Marlins had +40000 odds of winning the 2020 World Series when the futures bet was initially posted last fall. Entering this week, they’re down to +2500...Sandy has completed at least six frames in each of his last five starts, though the stakes are higher than ever for this game and the Marlins bullpen is fully rested. Don Mattingly won’t hesitate to bring in reinforcements if the Cubs seriously threaten during the middle innings. Here were the right-hander’s full comments to the media from Tuesday...Mattingly hinted today that Wallach may start again in place of Jorge Alfaro for Game 2. While that would’ve been unthinkable earlier this summer, it’s hard to argue against the fact that Wallach has outplayed Alfaro the last couple weeks...Juan Páez tells you which hot hitters and pitchers the Fish will be leaning on.

Cubs Lineup

  1. CF Ian Happ
  2. 1B Anthony Rizzo
  3. 3B Kris Bryant
  4. LF Kyle Schwarber
  5. C Willson Contreras
  6. RF Jason Heyward
  7. SS Javier Báez
  8. DH Victor Caratini
  9. 2B Jason Kipnis

P Kyle Hendricks (2.88 ERA, 3.55 FIP, 20.3 K%, 31.0 Hard Hit% in 81.1 IP)

Baseball Savant

Notes: An eight-to-one strikeout-to-walk ratio for Hendricks this season! Corey Dickerson (.250/.294/.375 in 17 PA) and Starling Marte (.231/.286/.308 in 28 PA) both have substantial but not very encouraging history with him. Like Alcantara, Hendricks is proficient at generating harmless ground balls, and like the Marlins, the Cubs batters frequently put the ball on the ground (fourth-highest rate in the majors)...Impaired earlier this summer by finger and oblique injuries, former NL MVP Kris Bryant may have finally turned the corner last weekend, homering in back-to-back games to conclude the regular season.

How to watch/listen/follow

The first pitch is scheduled for 2:08 p.m. ET. FOX Sports Florida has pregame coverage beginning at 1:30 p.m., and you can flip back over there following the final out for the postgame show. The game itself will be televised on ABC with a crew of Jon “Boog” Sciambi, Jesse Rogers and Hall of Famer Chipper Jones, or you can listen on 940 WINZ.

Fish Picks

Please comment below or tweet to @fishstripes with your picks for the following props. The contest locks at first pitch.

  1. Which starting pitcher lasts longer? (Alcantara/Hendricks)
  2. Over/Under 9.5 total strikeouts for Marlins pitchers? (Over/Under)
  3. Over/Under 399.5 feet as the farthest hit of the game? (Over/Under)
  4. Will Garrett Cooper get a hit? (Yes/No)
  5. Who wins? (Marlins/Cubs)

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