Cubs-Yankees to play doubleheader Wednesday
The New York Yankees didn't wait around all day. Seeing continued bad weather in the forecast, they postponed Tuesday night's scheduled interleague game against the Cubs at Yankee Stadium.
The two teams will make it up Wednesday afternoon as part of a day-night doubleheader. Game 1 begins at 12:05 CDT while the second game gets under way at the regularly scheduled time of 6:05.
Also postponed was an event honoring Nelson Mandela and Jackie Robinson. A news conference will be held Wednesday, and a ceremony will take place before the regularly scheduled game.
The pitching matchups remain the same. Jason Hammel goes for the Cubs in the afternoon against Masahiro Tanaka, for whom the Cubs made a run in the free-agent market this past off-season.
In the second game, Travis Wood goes against Michael Pineda.
Hammel is off to a 2-0 start with a 2.63 ERA. During his career, he has faced the Yankees 17 times, going 3-3 with a 5.17. ERA. He has seen a lot of the Yankees from his days with Tampa Bay and Baltimore.
"They've always been a team that is very patient, and a lot of their guys at the top and the bottom of the order just battle and put the ball in play," Hammel told cubs.com.
He is looking to become the first starting pitcher to win his first 3 decisions as a Cub since Carlos Silva won 8-straight to start the 2010 season.
Praise for Soriano:
The Cubs will reunite with Alfonso Soriano in the short two-game series. The Cubs traded Soriano to the Yankees last July 26 for pitching prospect Corey Black.
Soriano is a popular teammate wherever he goes. He already has impressed Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner with his work on defense.
"How many guys who have made $200 million and done everything he has done in his career would be out there doing this kind of work?" Gardner asked Joel Sherman of the New York Post. "Let me tell you the answer - none. He did this in Houston last year after we were eliminated.
"It's impressive. But that is him. I am telling you he is a great teammate. He does the work, always has a smile, never says a bad word, and you look at him and you can never tell if we won or we lost a game. The same guy every day."
McDonald to front office:
The Cubs named Darnell McDonald baseball operations assistant. McDonald, 35, announced his retirement as a player earlier this month after 16 professional seasons, including last year with the Cubs organization. The former outfielder also went to spring training with the club this year.
According to the Cubs, "McDonald will contribute to all elements within the club's player-development and amateur-scouting departments. He will visit the club's affiliates to work with the minor-league players on and off the field, evaluate amateur players leading up to the draft and spend time around the major-league club. McDonald will also attend instructional league during the fall and serve there as an extra coach among his other responsibilities."
The journeyman player originally was selected by the Orioles in the first round of the 1997 draft and made his major-league debut with the Orioles in 2004. Last year, he saw action in 25 games for the Cubs, batting .302 with a home run.
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