The Cubs’ face-off today against the A’s in o.Co Colosseum in game three of a very close series.  Game one was decided by a late three-run blast from Derek Norris off of James Russell that made it 8-7, A’s.  Game two was a 3-1 win for the Cubs that was dominated by eight strong innings (and 114 pitches) by Matt Garza.

Game three features Travis Wood (5-6, 2.85 ERA) vs. Dan Strailey (4-2, 5.00 ERA) and a chance for the Cubs to win their fourth consecutive series heading into the weekend at home against the Pirates.  Wood has been incredible this year, pitching an insane 15 quality starts in his first 16 starts of the season.  For those keeping track at home, that’s good.

Also, Starlin Castro is hitting .303 in his first seven games back from well, being benched for a day.  Honestly, it might be a good idea to give Castro a day off every two or three weeks.  If he has two days off per month, that’s still 150 games he can play, and he’ll be more fresh and more productive (assuming that part of his problem was being tired).  Also, he now has four multi-hit games in those seven games, which is awesome.

English: Starlin Castro of the Chicago Cubs waits to bat in 2010. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today’s starting lineup for the Cubs is:

1. Luis Valbuena, 3B
2. Starlin Castro, SS
3. Nate Schierholtz, RF
4. Alfonso Soriano, LF
5. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
6. Dioner Navarro, DH
7. Brian Bogusevic, CF
8. Darwin Barney, 2B
9. Welington Castillo, C

The lineup for the A’s is as follows:

1. Coco Crisp, CF
2. Jed Lowrie, 2B
3. Josh Donaldson, 3B
4. Yoenis Cespedes, LF
5. Nate Freiman, 1B
6. Chris Young, RF
7. Derek Norris, C
8. Seth Smith, DH
9. Adam Rosales, SS

Here’s to hoping that Wood can do what he does best today, which is pitch.  And here’s to hoping that Soriano stays hot (he’s 9-22 with three homers in his past five games).  Other than that, happy holidays (‘MURICA), and go Cubs!