Chicago Cubs lineup vs. Pirates: Willson Contreras to leadoff, Jake Arrieta to pitch

Mark Rebilas - USA Today Sports

Tony Crumpton - Senior Editor - Thursday, April 08 2021

Game time: The Chicago Cubs (3-3) will battle the Pittsburgh Pirates (1-5) on Thursday (12:35 p.m. CT) at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, PA.

TV information: The game will be on Marquee Sports Network, ATT SportsNet PIT, and MLB Network (out-of-market only).

Full recap/takeaways later on CubsHQ.com.

Cubs lineup:

Kris Bryant 3B

Javy Baez SS

David Bote 2B

Pitching matchup: The Cubs will have righty Jake Arrieta (1-0, 1.50 ERA) on the mound against lefty Tyler Anderson (0-1, 5.40 ERA).

Here's how we line up for the Home Opener.#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/l7JqVsF5Yy
— Pirates (@Pirates) April 8, 2021

Cubs pregame tidbits:

Can Joc Pederson's homer off Devin Williams ignite the Cubs' offense? pic.twitter.com/bVPwZa4rDb
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) April 8, 2021

#Cubs five-man taxi squad here in Pittsburgh: INF Ildemaro Vargas, C PJ Higgins, LHP Brad Wieck, OF Rafael Ortega and RHP Pedro Strop.
— Russell Dorsey (@Russ_Dorsey1) April 8, 2021