Cubs 3, Phillies 2

In Postgame by berselius136 Comments

OSS: Return of the Mago

Three up:

  1. On a day when no one on the Cubs offense could get a hit with RISP, Javy delivered a pinch hit single to walk it off. Baez wasn’t even supposed to be here today. He’s only been out two days but you can already feel the Cubs missing him in the lineup
  2. The rest of the offense was scuffling, but Kris Bryant remained on fire by going 3-4 with a walk. Most importantly, his baserunning led to the Cubs first two runs. He scored from second on a groundout early in the game, and managed to get home on a dribbler by Almora in the bottom of the ninth to score the tying run.
  3. Lost in the late game heorics was that Quintana had another solid start, shutting out the Phils over six innings and striking out four.

Three down:

  1. As soon as Q left the game a bullpen meltdown felt inevitable. Edwards notched two outs but gave up a single and double, and Kintzler came in with runners on second and third to try to get out of the inning. Cutch singled to give the Phillies the lead and that was that. At least Edwards didn’t walk anyone. Kintzler seemed like kind of an odd choice, since they didn’t *need* a ground ball there, just an out, but he’s probably the guy Joe trusts the most right now so eh.
  2. Cubs hitters stranded a lot of Cubs on the basepaths, most notably Daniel Descalso who struck out with the bases loaded in the first and popped out with runners on first and second in the third inning.
  3. Willson actually had an even worse game by WPA, mostly due to him popping out with Bryzzo on second and third with nobody out in the ninth.

Next up: Cole Irvin takes on Cole Hamels in the Battle of the Coles. Game time is 7:05 CT.

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Comments

  2. WaLi

    EnricoPallazzo,

    I’m stuck on this team, working for arbitration wages. Working on my day off, the goddamn relievers blew it again, I deal with every backward ass fan in Chicago. I smell like hot dogs. My backup is worthless after abusing his wife. And my present spouse has sucked 36 dicks.

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  4. Perkins

    “You think the average Stormtrooper knows how to install a toilet main? All they know is killing in white uniforms.”

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  6. Perkins

    berselius:
    Perkins,

    I’m still (dying laughing) at the callback to this in TFA

    No shit, the first time I saw TFA I burst out laughing that Finn was in sanitation and had to explain to my wife that it was a Clerks reference. Even the Imperial Army needs POGs. (dying laughing)

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  7. Author
    berselius

    Aside from Javy Baez, professional movers are the next best thing to magicians that actually exist on earth.

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  8. Perkins

    So the bad news is the Brewers won. The good news is the Cardinals got shelled in the first game of their doubleheader.

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  9. andcounting

    The NL Central is pretty good. Maybe it’s counterintuitive, but I prefer it that way. I like it when the Cubs have to be truly great to be in first.

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  18. Perkins

    Either the Cubs’ defensive positioning is all wrong, or the Phillies are insanely lucky with respect to BABIP.

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  24. Smokestack Lightning

    I don’t care what he does defensively. Almora can’t hit and shouldn’t be out there.

    Almora!!!

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  30. dmick89

    Rizzo the Rat,

    I think I mentioned it after the Cubs signed him, but I’d have put Chatwood in the bullpen from day one. He was never going to be a good starter for this team unless he had a miraculous turnaround like Jake did and that was highly unlikely.

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  35. dmick89

    berselius,

    That’s one of those safe bets that you can confidently say without any inside knowledge whatsoever. There’s a good chance that just about every contending team will make a big push for him after the draft.

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  37. WaLi

    WaLi,

    Yep, from the post on May 1st

    WaLi:
    GW,

    Interesting, didn’t know that went away. So after June 5th he’ll most likely be signed by someone.

    Cubs will probably be in first place by then so that someone won’t be the Cubs since management/owners will decide they don’t need him. Then the Cubs will have 40 games in a row and drop out of first place due to a poor bullpen.

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  61. Perkins

    Did Contreras frame really poorly against McCutchen there? Because looking at Gameday, Cutch struck out looking and the umpire didn’t notice.

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  65. Rizzo the Rat

    Loved the 3-1 bunt by Rizzo. It seems ridiculous that the Phillies were willing to let him reach so easily with a 3-run lead in the ninth.

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  67. Rizzo the Rat

    A ball in play doesn’t mean much there unless he reaches safely, even if Chatwood advances to third (i.e., there was one out, the runner on third didn’t matter and the tying run was already in scoring position).

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  68. Rizzo the Rat

    To put it another way, Caratini’s pop out would have ended the game even if Russell advanced both runners.

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  71. dmick89

    I’ll take ball in play there, but it’s not a huge deal. At least with the ball in play there’s the potential for an error or a wild pitch scoring a run. That being said, it’s not always easy making contact. Russell was trying to I’m sure, but he just couldn’t.

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  72. Rizzo the Rat

    I mean, I’d take contact over a strikeout in literally any situation. It’s why hitters swing the bat, after all. It’s just that there are situations where strikeouts are particularly bad (compared to other outs), and this wasn’t one of them. Also, per Fangraphs, Caratini’s out had the exact same negative WPA as Russell’s.

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  73. andcounting

    Rizzo the Rat,

    You’re kinda twisting what I said to mean I am disappointed Russell didn’t ground out to second base. Striking out may have been marginally worse than a groundout or deep fly out and equally as bad as a pop up, but it’s way worse than simply making contact and all its possibilities.

    That 30% chance that he would’ve gotten a hit had he made contact? Probably a 25%ish chance of tying the game if he makes contact? Sure, making an out in play doesn’t turn the game into a sure victory, but trying to hit a modest line drive instead of a homer would’ve been a better approach, imo. I can’t say for sure what his mindset was, but I think he got greedy after seeing what Chatwood did. Only he wasn’t pitched to the way Chatwood was.

    Grounding out to second would have been one of the worst case scenarios of making contact, but even that would have been an improvement. I really don’t think I’m saying anything outlandish, but it sounds like I’m getting a shoulder shrug and a “eh, contact shmontact” in return. (dying laughing)

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  74. dmick89

    andcounting,

    You’re right. You just said contact. I read it wrong too though I would much prefer an out in play in that situation just because even if it’s a popup there’s a small chance there’s an error, but yeah, just regular contact means there’s a legit chance the game could have been tied. Too bad Russell kind of sucks.

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  75. Ryno

    andcounting:
    Really disappointed Russell didn’t put a ball in play in that situation.

    Why are you disappointed he didn’t ground out to second? That would’ve been better than a strikeout.

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  78. BVS

    I was just reading a blurb about Adam Jones being productive this year and it reminded me that he was in the hotstove discussion to be signed to fill a gap in leadership and OF for the Cubs. Then Descalso was signed to a lot of “hunhs?”.

    So in 20:20 hindsight, perhaps the FO already knew Zo was having trouble and was hedging for that eventuality. It’s not like divorce is often a sudden event.

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  79. WaLi

    To-day’s Lineup

    Kyle Schwarber LF
    Kris Bryant 3B
    Anthony Rizzo 1B
    Javy Báez SS
    Jason Heyward RF
    Victor Caratini C
    Daniel Descalso 2B
    Albert Almora Jr. CF
    Kyle Hendricks P

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  81. Ryno

    In today’s Klawchat:

    Andrew
    1:49 I know you don’t eat beef anymore Keith but what’s the best way to cook beef or pork ribs?

    Seriously, what the fuck kind of question is that?

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  83. Berdj Joseph Rassam

    So far, the Cubbies are having a good season. Overall, offense looks decent and so does the pitching. The glaring problem area looks to be the defense/fielding.

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  85. Myles

    The two worst hitters on the Cubs in the month of May have been Jason Heyward and Daniel Descalso.

    Also, FWIW, Schwarber is doing great at the leadoff spot this year. I’d like him to stick up there.

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  90. BVS

    I love Willson’s energy on the bases/hitting.

    Also how valiantly he is trying to grow a beard, but succeeding about as well as his BA (~30%)

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  93. Rizzo the Rat

    Berdj Joseph Rassam: The glaring problem area looks to be the defense/fielding.

    It’s weird, considering how many of their position players were on the 2016 team, which was called the best defensive team ever.

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  95. Perkins

    I keep hearing there’s a good closer available for only money, but I just can’t remember his name. I think it’s Craig or Greg or something like that.

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  96. dmick89

    Perkins,

    Even if they had Kimbrel they’d go from worse than AA to AAA. They’re going to suck no matter what. The Cubs should just start using their starters for 150 pitches if they have a lead or are tied and take them out if the Cubs trail after 2 or 3 innings (or after 1 inning if they trail by 2 or more).

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  97. andcounting

    dmick89,

    I think with a healthy Strop, adding Kimbrel would make the bullpen decent. Even with a crap bullpen, you shouldn’t lose games you’re leading in the 9th inning. There are enough guys out there with the skill of closing to prevent that from happening often. It happens to the Cubs often. In this league, that’s an organizational failure. I would wager it’s easier to find a really good closer than almost any other position on the team. It might not always be cheap, though it often is, but it is straightforward. A team without a shutdown closer, barring injury, has decided not to have one.

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  98. andcounting

    The Cubs team save percentage is 50%. 9 blown saves in 18 opportunities. Ahead by 3 or fewer runs late in games, the Cubs have a 50/50 shot at blowing that lead. And it’s almost by design.

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  101. Smokestack Lightning

    Perkins:
    I keep hearing there’s a good closer available for only money, but I just can’t remember his name. I think it’s Craig or Greg or something like that.

    I’ve heard of this baseball sport pitcher as well. Crag Krinkle is his name, if I recall.

    Cubs should sign him for a shiny nickel or two.

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  102. dmick89

    EnricoPallazzo,

    The Ricketts family can’t help elect more white nationalists if they don’t money so what do you expect? They could spend it on something as trivial as baseball or they could Make America Great Again.

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  113. dmick89

    5 runs in 7 innings is probably about the best case scenario for Darvish these days. Not at all good, but at least it’s 7 innings I guess. Too bad the Cubs didn’t score enough to win.

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  130. Author
    berselius

    I think I said earlier this month that I liked the idea of trying Chatwood as closer. Hopefully he prove me right.

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