NLCS Game 3: Dodgers @ Cubs

In Game Threads by dmick89105 Comments

Time: 8:00 PM CT
TV: TBS
Series Preview
Gameday

LINEUPS


(104-58, 2-0)

Chris Taylor, SS
Cody Bellinger, 1B
Justin Turner, 3B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Andre Ethier, LF
Chase Utley, 2B
Austin Barnes, C
Joc Pederson, CF
Yu Darvish, P

Cubs logo
(92-70, 0-2)

Ben Zobrist, 2B
Kyle Schwarber, LF
Kris Bryant, 3B
Anthony Rizzo, 1B
Willson Contreras, C
Jon Jay, CF
Addison Russell, SS
Jason Heyward, RF
Kyle Hendricks, P

Will the Cubs win? No, but it could go either way.

538 Forecast: 51% chance of winning

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Comments

  1. Rizzo the Rat

    Edwin: Sure, but if you had to pick one…

    Well, I guess I’d look at flyball/groundball tendencies in the opposing pitcher. Which, as I mentioned, favor Jay tonight. So, I guess the Cubs know what they’re doing!

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  2. Perkins

    On the plus side, it’s October 17th and the Cubs are one of two NL teams still playing baseball. That’s a good feeling.

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  3. Edwin

    Did you hear the one about the agnostic dyslexic imsomniac? He spent the whole night awake pondering the existence of a dog.

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  4. Rizzo the Rat

    Cubs: Hey Matt, we’d like to know what it would take to get your bat back in the lineup.
    Szczur: You mean you want me back on the team?
    Cubs: Not exactly…

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  5. cerulean

    I won’t be watching this game, regrettably. Maybe when the Cubs reel off four in a row en route a loss to the Yankees, I’ll come back to read every word.

    I suppose it’s for the best: You know your work-life balance is all fucked up when your escape from both does most of the work of sapping the life out of you. (dying laughing)

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  6. berselius

    I think my parents will be asleep by the fourth inning. Crazy that the start time is even later despite playing two time zones east of LA.

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  7. BVS

    My pennance for being away for the next 3 weeks is that the Cubs aren’t on TV until 10 pm. Because This Is Us is on instead.

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  8. Rizzo the Rat

    dmick89,

    If I were the manager, I’d be tempted to bench Jay out of spite for taking an 0-2 fastball down the middle with two on (I’d be a lousy manager.)

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  9. Author
    dmick89

    This season sucked. They shit the bed for more than half the season and allowed mediocre teams a shot at winning the division. Their offense has been horrible in the postseason.

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  10. BVS

    You don’t walk Barnes to get double play op to option from Pederson and force Darvish out with pinch hitter?

    EDIT. Well that’s one way

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  11. Berselius is too lazy to log in

    Interesting that multiple identical posts of for fuck’s sake will crash the site (dying laughing).

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  12. Perkins

    This will be an unfortunate but predictable end to a lackluster season. This game is magnifying all the ways the 2017 Cubs are different from the 2016 Cubs, particularly the defense and relief pitching.

    I hope this is a kick in the ass to the players to get back to focusing on fundamentals in the offseason and ST, because they’ve looked sloppy all year.

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  13. Perkins

    I’d call any season with a division win and an advance to the LCS at least a moderate success, but this feels like a big wet fart.

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  14. Author
    dmick89

    Perkins,

    Success is relative. The Cubs should have run away with the division, but they nearly gave it away by playing so poorly the first three and a half months. We really only got two months of good baseball from this team and then once the postseason starts, almost everything about those last two months was gone. Their starting pitching was decent, but their defense was horrible. Their relief pitching was even worse than that. The offense was almost as bad.

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  15. Author
    dmick89

    dmick89,

    To make things even worse, the Cubs are going to have a hard time improving the overall talent level of the team in the offseason. The Cubs have two more years of Zobrist and way too many years left for Heyward. There’s still a decent chance Lester bounces back, but if not, that contact sucks too. It’s a good thing the Cubs have all these young players because they could be drowning in significantly overpaid veterans.

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  16. Perkins

    dmick89,

    The offense is less baffling to me given the quality of opposition, though I’d still expect better. The bullpen and defense have been complete dumpster fires, though. The defense has been visibly poor for the whole season.

    I agree that the season was a disappointment relative to preseason expectations. I’m remembering a comment Theo made about needing new blood every year during a window of contention. I wonder how much of that is due to cumulative fatigue after a team has made multiple consecutive deep runs into the postseason.

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  17. Smokestack Lightning

    Apparently good things happen when you connect with that eye-level pitch. Like magical, super-amazing things that more than offset the 6000 times you swing and miss.

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  18. BVS

    If the Cubs lose tomorrow then I can have an early Anniversary dinner with my wife Thurs since I’ll be in PR on our actual anniversary.

    Guess that’s a plus.

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  19. Author
    dmick89

    It would have been nice to at least see the Cubs make this a competitive series, but it’s probably going to be the second time in three years the Cubs get swept in the LCS.

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  20. Author
    dmick89

    Smokestack Lightning,

    That may be, but I think the next two, three or maybe four years is what this team has to play for. Bryant will be gone in a few years and it’s not like the Cubs have much in the farm system. The Cubs are all in with this core and I think you worry about financial issues when that core isn’t as strong as it is. Just my two cents, but those are both pretty pennies so it’s worth more than someone else’s two cents.

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