The Chicago Cubs take on the Miami Marlins on Thursday afternoon, looking to stay one of the hottest teams in baseball. The Cubs are 7-3 in the last 10 games and have gone from last in the NL Wild Card standings to fourth-from-last.
Righty CF Reed Johnson gets the start on Thursday against lefty SP Mark Buehrle. The long-time Chicago White Sox pitcher is having a sharp first season in Miami, sporting a 3.13 ERA and 3.75 FIP. He has been particular tough against left-handed pitching in 2012 (3.40 FIP), so the team will elect to start Johnson and RF Jeff Baker over lefties OF David DeJesus and RF/1B Bryan LaHair.
Here are the full lineups, courtesy of Baseball Press:
| Marlins | Cubs |
|---|---|
| 1. Jose Reyes SS | 1. Reed Johnson CF |
| 2. Emilio Bonifacio CF | 2. Starlin Castro SS |
| 3. Carlos Lee 1B | 3. Anthony Rizzo 1B |
| 4. Justin Ruggiano RF | 4. Alfonso Soriano LF |
| 5. Hanley Ramirez 3B | 5. Jeff Baker RF |
| 6. Austin Kearns LF | 6. Geovany Soto C |
| 7. Omar Infante 2B | 7. Darwin Barney 2B |
| 8. John Buck C | 8. Luis Valbuena 3B |
| 9. Mark Buehrle P | 9. Paul Maholm P |
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