OSS: Scherzer outduels Lester. Three up 1. It was a fantastic pitching matchup today, and both pitchers failed to disappoint. Jon Lester went seven innings, striking out ten Nats. He gave up a solo HR to Bryce Harper, along with an unearned run in the fourth. He was dealing early, but got a little frustrated with the home plate ump’s zone …
Cubs 3, Nats 2 (5/26/15)
OSS: Kris Bryant hit a homer that hasn’t landed yet, and Addison Russell completed the comeback. Three up 1. Kyle Hendricks had another great outing, going seven innings and keeping the Nats hitters off balance all game. It felt like the Cubs turned ten double plays behind him, his sinker was working so well on a day when the wind …
Cubs 3, Dbacks 4 (5/24/15)
OSS: ¯_(ツ)_/¯. Going .500 on a west coast road trip still feels like a success. Three up 1. Chris Coghlan had the best day for the Cubs, with a two run HR in the fifth to keep it close and some surprisingly solid defense. 2. Jorge Soler had a nice day at the plate, going 2-3 including a ground rule double …
Cubs 9, DBacks 6 (5/24/15)
OSS: Six RBI for Anthony Rizzo picks up a rough day for the pitching and defense. Three up: 1. Anthony Rizzo had a .638 WPA and six RBI on the day, including a bases loaded double and a three run homer to put the Cubs ahead in the ninth. It’s nice to see him and Goldschmidt on the same field. …
Series Preview: Chicago Cubs (21-16) at San Diego Padres (19-20)
The Cubs face the Padres for the second (and presumably final) time this year. It’s a west coast roadtrip, one of the few times I’m glad that I don’t live in the greatest time zone. I should be able to catch all of these games, or at least fall asleep on the couch around the eight innings or so. Or …
Cubs 4, Pirates 1 (5/16/15)
OSS I picked the right week to be on powerful pain medication. Three up 1. Jon Lester was terrific today, striking out seven and allowing ten baserunners in seven innings, giving up only one run. What happened after that was pretty crazy, but we’ll get to that later. His past several starts have evened out the first few of the …
Cubs 11, Pirates 10: 12 innings (5/15/15)
OSS: Cubs win a bizarre marathon of a game on a stumble by Gregory Polanco. Three up: 1. Kris Bryant got the scoring started for the day with a three run blast in the third inning. I think Pirates starter Jeff Locke was already up to 80 or so pitches by then. Pretty baffling that Clint Hurdle would have trotted …
Series Preview: Pittsburgh Pirates (17-18) vs Chicago Cubs (19-15)
The Pirates are coming off a split with their cross-state ‘rivals’, and if you had asked me four days ago which of these NL Central-NL East four game sets was going to be a sweep, I would have bet heavily on the Pirates. But that’s baseball. A lot of their position players have been underperforming this year, including last year’s …
Cubs 6, Mets 5 (5/14/15)
OSS: Cubs come from behind to put a smile on Ron Santo’s face. Three up 1. Dexter Fowler got the scoring started with a home run in the fourth inning, with the Cubs down 4-0, and came around to score the go ahead run in the eighth on a passed ball by Mets catcher Anthony Recker. That almost seems too …
Cubs 6, Mets 1
OSS: Cubs wear down Syndergaard for the victory Three up 1. Jake Arrieta had a fantastic day on the mound, going eight innings and giving the pen the rest it badly needed. He struck out ten and allowed only two walks, and if he had gotten a handle on the crazy movement on his pitches a little sooner he could …