Game 1:
OSS: Jake Arrieta outduels rando Cardinals starter.
Three up:
1. Arrieta was cruising for most of the game and looked like he had a good shot at a Madduxes before the Cards started to break through in the seventh. He struck out four and walked two in 6.2 innings, and even managed two hits on the day.
2. The wind was howling in today, but Rizzo still managed to homer and Fowler just missed one as well in the eighth inning. The Cubs ended up needing those insurance runs as the Cardinals ended up plating two in the eighth.
3. Chris Denorfia also had a nice day at the plate, driving in three runs, including one off a righty.
Three down:
1. Starlin Castro had a tough day at the plate, going 0-5.
2. Soler also had an 0-fer, but still got a RBI on a bases loaded walk.
3. I’m glad Neil Ramirez is back, but it’s looked like he still has some rust to knock off.
Game 2:
OSS: The duck took the Cardinals’ power, the duck is our new god
Four up
1. The Cubs stole a bit of Cardinals devil magic today, taking the lead on an excuse-me single down the first base line by Addison Russell that had an insane amount of english on it to make it a fair ball over the first base bag. It was a strange game overall, including Jonathan Herrera wearing the wrong helmet during the rally (sadly, not a bubble gum bucket), and the indelible image of Angel Hernandez chasing a duck off the field. It’s still a far cry form my favorite Angel Hernandez moment at Wrigley though (bonus – includes an incredibly Cubs-ian TOOTBLANish finish to that game, and Chip botching a call).
2. Dallas Beeler exceeded expectations by pitching into the sixth, allowing only two runs, and struck out six. Ten of the thirteen balls in play were grounders.
3. Starlin Castro finally broke out of his slump with a double in the fifth that led to the first Cubs run, and all the Starlin haters out there have already blocked out his RBI sac fly with the Cubs kryptonite present – a runner on third with less than two outs.
4. Whoever is running the Cubs twitter account isn’t being paid enough.
@Killianis7091 We could say the same about yours if you’d like to take a peek inside our mentions after losses.
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 8, 2015
Three down
1. Not surprisingly Motte was a little shaky in his second outing of the day. You have to wonder if Strop was unavailable, I had just assumed he’d be closing out the game and didn’t realize it was Motte until there were two batters on.
2. Despite scoring five runs, the Cubs offense still only scratched out six hits. But at least they only struck out five times.
3. As was pointed out by Mish, the last Cubs pitcher that most of us have seen pitch for the Cubs in the World Series sang the stretch today.
Next game: Wacha vs Hammel, 7:05 PM CT