Oakland @ Chicago preview
Wrigley Field
Last Meeting ( Jun 16, 2010 ) Oakland 2, Chi. Cubs 6
Dallas Braden has gone from perfect to absolutely imperfect in about a month.
Braden looks to get back on the winning track and the Oakland Athletics look to win a series from the Chicago Cubs when their three-game interleague set resumes on Thursday at Wrigley Field.
The teams have split the first two games with the A's winning on Tuesday thanks in part to four errors by the Cubs. Chicago won Wednesday on the strength of a strong start by Ryan Dempster, two RBIs apiece from Alfonso Soriano and Starlin Castro and a home run by Derrek Lee.
Braden entered the history books May 9 in a 4-0 perfect-game victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. Braden struck out six that day while facing the minimum and improving to 4-2 on the season. He hasn't been able to back up that start with anything other than imperfect performances.
Oakland has lost all six games started by Braden since the perfect game. Braden has allowed at least four runs four times in that span, going 0-4 with a pair of no decisions. Braden has allowed less than six hits once in the span and has yielded 11 twice.
Depending on the wind and whether or not the Cubs show up to play, Thursday could be another rough outing for Braden. In five road starts he is 1-3 with a 5.79 ERA.
Chicago counters with Randy Wells (3-5, 5.15), who has been about as bad as Braden for about as long.
Wells was 3-0 with a pair of no decisions in May, but has not won a decision since. In his last two starts he has allowed 11 runs and 19 hits in 10 1/3 innings.
With Wells on the mound, the Cubs bullpen should probably stay loose and be ready for duty. Wells has not gone longer than 5 1/3 innings in any of his last four starts and his last win came on April against the lowly Diamondbacks when the Cubs offense showed up and scored 11 runs.
Despite the fact that they have been a disappointment so far, the Cubs are just 6 1/2 games behind Cincinnati and St. Louis for first place in the National League Central. If they want to contend the rest of the way, they will need better stuff from Wells, and more victories at Wrigley. Chicago, which is just 7-12 in its last 19 games overall, is only 16-16 at home this season.