OSS: Cubs clinch playoff spot, hang on to a razor-thin half game lead, cause everyone to tear their hair out.
Three up:
- The bats finally woke up, courtesy of a first inning opposite field home run by Jason Heyward.
- Despite the first inning home run, Quintana had a solid start. He struck out four with no walks in five innings, allowing two solo HRs. Two runs in five innings is pretty much a quality start these days I guess. He was pinch hit for in the bottom of the fifth after only 74 pitches with a five run lead, but the Cubs bullpen is completely reliable so no big deal I guess. What a luxury.
- Albert Almora, who has gone from a guy for whom the knives came out when he wasn’t in the lineup earlier in the season to the last guy you want to see off the bench came through with the walkoff in the tenth.
Three down:
- By Grabthar’s hammer, this fucking bullpen. No one could throw a strike in today’s admittedly tight zone and the Pirates stormed their way back in the last two innings against Edwards, Cishek, and Wilson. At least Jesse Chavez is good. The Cubs will just need him to pitch 3-4 innings in every playoff game.
- Caratini, in the lineup for the ice cold Willson Contreras, went 0-4, including a groundout with one out and Terrence Gore on second base. It was the Cubs biggest negative WPA play of the day. This followed a WTF move of Mike Freeman sac bunting Gore over to second.
- The Cubs had the bases clogged with no one out in the third inning, and while they came away with two runs it was on a sac fly and a bases loaded walk. They left some runs on the table that they sure could have used.
Next up: Lester and the Cubs take on the red-hot Trevor Williams at 7:05 PM CT.
Comments
I can’t fucking stand that thing Len (and sometimes Pat) does on walk-offs, yelling Cubs win before the ball has even left the infield. Call the fucking play, then announce what it means when the runner crosses the plate. Premature bullshit.
SKQuote Reply
Even the best teams need to catch a few breaks to win championships. It’s not that this year’s Cubs don’t catch breaks, it’s that the breaks work against them (the STL runner falling down and not scoring the tying run AND the Marte “double” going off Rizzo’s glove).
RynoQuote Reply
Hey, it’s not that easy to…run. The average fan thinks they can, but I’d like to see them try to run without falling down.
RynoQuote Reply
Jeebus, I just saw that Cervelli foul ball.
Berselius is too lazy to loginQuote Reply
I’m kind of going to miss the .5 game after tonight. It was nice being one game up in the loss column on everyone.
RynoQuote Reply
Berselius is too lazy to login,
If you have a chance to catch a foul ball, catching it becomes more important than anything…including the game being played. It’s not like you can perform a magic spell that’ll make a ball appear in a box in front of your house within a day.
RynoQuote Reply
SK,
I don’t know, SK. That was fairly obvious it was a base hit and you have Gore at 3rd so as soon as I saw it leave the bat I knew the game was over. There have been some home runs that were obvious that they’ve done it too and I don’t mind it. There’s plenty of times you can be dramatic and wait for it to play out, but if I can tell the outcome at home as soon as it leaves the bat then I guess I’d rather they just tell me.
Here’s a good example of what irritates me and it’s weird that we’re polar opposites on this. Less than 2 outs, runner at 3rd, ball hit deep in the outfield. There’s no reason to call that play as anything other than Cubs win. As soon as it was hit over the outfielder’s head the game was over and usually you can tell that fairly clearly off the bat.
dmick89Quote Reply
So Al Yellon, bcbfan and kerrysotherwifesotherhusband were the most liked possible future names for me if the Cubs miraculously play in the NLDS. Maybe we should settle on AlYellon’sHusband?
RynoQuote Reply
Ryno,
no because that makes it seem too tongue-in-cheek. you need to feel the shame of actually posing as a real bcb fan.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-silliest-thing-about-kyle-schwarber/
RynoQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
I have no problem with that because of my confidence in my stance, so please understand that I’m not trying to circumvent the shame.
BCBFanStalkingAlYellon
As I type that, I realize there’s kind of a built-in horror movie twist… Al Yellon finds the site BCBFansTalkingAlYellon.com as a ratemyteacher-like forum where BCBers discuss how much they love him. He becomes fascinated with the site, checking it daily and interacting with its many patrons. Then one day he realizes that he’s actually visiting BCBFanStalkingAlYellon.com and that all the patrons are really just one person who’s mentally unstable. Then lightning strikes just as a phone rings. It’s the site owner…and the call is coming from inside the house…
RynoQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
And BTW, too tongue in cheek like San Diego Smooth Jazz Man?
RynoQuote Reply
This would be a fantastic win-out if the #Cubs went into the postseason hot. Not holding my breath, but realm of possibility and all that.
Rice in limboQuote Reply
berseliusQuote Reply
Rice in limbo,
i’m as optimistic as the next guy but the news about KB is not very promising…
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
I think the Cubs should win tonight’s game for my blood pressure.
dmick89Quote Reply
berselius,
Or worse: The caller tells him to check BCB, where he finds inflammatory fanshots about hosting picnics or discussing children’s haircuts that were mistakenly posted as fanposts. As Alvin enters his login credentials, the caller tells him that won’t work and Alvin realizes he has been banned from BCB.
RynoQuote Reply
out of curiousity, could russell face jail time? has his wife come out and officially said that she will not be pressing charges? maybe dumb questions but i (fortunately) have no idea how this kind of thing works…
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
When’s the movie coming out
MylesQuote Reply
dmick89,
It’s really just a few more seconds I’m asking for here. But that urgent rush to say Cubs win as quickly as possible when the batter hasn’t even finished his swing — it’s like someone trying to cheat, or cutting in front of you in traffic. Just lacking in taste in an otherwise respectable broadcast.
SKQuote Reply
(dying laughing)
SKQuote Reply
That looks like the BCB member starter package.
MuckerQuote Reply
Mucker,
It’s just so long since I’ve thought of FanShots, or even SDSJM.
SKQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
I have no idea if she’s even talked with the police. If not, there’s nothing to investigate. I think it’s up to her whether or not she goes to the police and then up to the police whether or not to make an arrest.
dmick89Quote Reply
also includes a pair of cargo shorts with a baloney sandwich in one of the pockets
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
And a Big Gulp
MuckerQuote Reply
The talk of SDSJM just reminded me of the Grand Tournament of Douche. That may have been the most fun thing on the old ACB.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
We did not make friends with that tournament. We pissed a lot of people off, but fuck them.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
Don’t tell me what to do.
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
(dying laughing)
dmick89Quote Reply
To-day’s base ball squadron
2b Murphy
RF Zobrist
1B Rizzo
SS Baez
LF Schwarber
CF Happ
C Contreras
P Lester
3B Bote
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
I know Bryant has kind of sucked since the middle of May, but it would be still be an improvement having him in the lineup over Bote. Bote probably has more power though (due to KB’s injury).
dmick89Quote Reply
Jesus Christ
dmick89Quote Reply
At least the good part of the bullpen won’t be necessary tonight the way Jon is throwing.
dmick89Quote Reply
Whew!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Lester looks like shit.
dmick89Quote Reply
Jesus, Willson.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Willson doesn’t even seem to know what a strike or ball is at the plate. I hope he’s back to himself next season.
dmick89Quote Reply
I fucking hate the pitcher hitting 8th.
dmick89Quote Reply
Bote!!!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Bote!!!
dmick89Quote Reply
Bote McBoteface!!!!
PerkinsQuote Reply
Bote is pretty good defensively.
dmick89Quote Reply
Pretty catch by Báez, but a very ill-advised throw.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Jesus, Jon.
dmick89Quote Reply
Willson will take a strike a down the middle here.
dmick89Quote Reply
I hate hit-and-runs.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Stupid
dmick89Quote Reply
Ugh, that wasn’t even close.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
what the stupid fuck?
dmick89Quote Reply
That was a terrible send.
dmick89Quote Reply
Murphy!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Murphy!!!
dmick89Quote Reply
There should be 0 outs if this inning was coached well.
dmick89Quote Reply
What a weird inning.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
This might be the worst-pitched scoreless five innings I’ve seen.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Good clean inning there from Cishek.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Has CJ been on the DL this year? He’s only thrown 50 innings.
dmick89Quote Reply
Come on, CJ.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
CJ is lost right now.
dmick89Quote Reply
God damn it.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
dmick89,
He was on the DL for all of June.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
That’s right. Thanks.
dmick89Quote Reply
Bull penis good today.
Berselius is too lazy to loginQuote Reply
Perkins,
And he’s sucked ever since, at least any time I’ve seen him.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
He hasn’t looked good when I’ve seen either. I didn’t think he looked like old CJ tonight either, but he got the job done.
dmick89Quote Reply
I wish Gore had run home there.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Hang on to your butts. Or don’t. I can’t tell you what to do.
Berselius is too lazy to loginQuote Reply
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
PerkinsQuote Reply
M————> inverted
Berselius is too lazy to loginQuote Reply
That win was good and all but I just hope that the announcers allowed sufficient time before calling the win, for SK’s sake
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
Len got a little too excited when Rizzo caught that ground ball. He hadn’t even thrown it yet!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
Ugh…so tonight was basically a loss then
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
http://www.obstructedview.net/cubs-3-pirates-0/
berseliusQuote Reply