OSS: That’s more like it Three up: The Cubs jumped on Michael Wacha early, batting around and scoring six runs in the first inning. It feels strange to have gotten used to seeing Cubs pitchers get a PA before they even take the mound. David Ross had the biggest WPA play in the rally, a bases loaded double that drove …
Cubs 3, Cardinals 4 (5.23.16)
OSS: Cubs outplay the Cardinals, lose anyway. Three up The Cubs biggest play of the day by WPA was Ben Zobrist‘s seeing-eye single up the middle in the ninth, making it first and third with one out and Rizzo coming to the plate. Zobrist had a great day at the plate in general, going 3-4 with a walk and a …
Cubs 8, Giants 1, Heyward injured
OSS: Cubs win handily on Jake Arrieta day, but Heyward goes down early. Three One down Jason Heyward left the game after making a spectacular catch near/into the wall in the first inning. He slid into the padded wall and came up holding his side. No word form the Cubs on how serious it is, and any tentative reports you see should be …
Series Preview: Chicago Cubs (28-11) at San Francisco Giants (24-18)
The Cubs dropped two of three to the Brewers, and now travel to the west coast to face an actual good team. Now that I’m west coast adjacent I wish this was a weekday series, it’s nice when the games start after I get home for once (dying laughing). The Giants are coming off of a three game sweep of …
Cubs 2, Brewers 1 (5/18/16)
OSS: Against all odds, Travis Wood saves the day. Three up: Travis Wood Houdini-ed himself out of an impossible jam in the twelfth inning. He inherited two runners from Rondon, who was working in his second inning, then walked Santana to load the bases with nobody out. The Cubs brought an outfielder for the extra shot at the force at home but …
Brewers 4, Cubs 2 (5/17/16)
OSS: Chase Anderson no-hits the Cubs into the eighth inning, nearly completes the shutout. Three up Jason Heyward is still a member of the No Homers Club, but he picked up his first one in the ninth today. Now that that monkey is off his back* maybe we’ll see more power out of him. Kris Bryant went back to back with …
Series Preview: Chicago Cubs (27-9) vs Milwaukee Brewers (16-22)
The Brewers find themselves neck and neck with the Reds for the worst record in the NL central division. Their offense has been middle of the pack in the NL so far, and in fact they are second only to the Cubs in walk rate (11.0% to the Cubs 12.6%). But the pitching, particularly the starting pitching, has been putrid. …
Cubs 8, Pirates 2
OSS: “I recalled the line from the Bhagavad Gita – I am become Jake Arrieta, destroyer of worlds” Three up Pitcher vs team stats are dumb, but Arrieta is almost as much of a bogeyman for Pirates fans as he is to Orioles fans at this point. His only hiccup was with the pirates mini-rally in the fourth, after that he …
Cubs 9, Pirates 4
OSS: Cubs hit three homers off Liriano while First Half Jason Hammel does his thing. Three up Addison Muscle had the biggest hit of the day, getting the Cubs scoring going with a three run bomb off Liriano in the fourth. Russell quietly has a .264/.379/.427 line with three home runs on the season, good enough for a 112 wRC+ and nearly …
Series Preview: Pittsburgh Pirates (18-15) at Chicago Cubs (25-8) and game thread
The Cubs ground the Pirates bones to make their bread a week or so ago, and after losing both ends of a doubleheader on Wednesday they’re likely pretty hungry again. Since then the Pirates have taken a series with the Cardinals and split a rain-shortened series with the puny Reds. As mentioned last time their offense has been their main driver, …