OSS: An Inverted M is an Inverted M. Three up: Who else but Javy Baez was involved in the most consequential play of the game (.411 WPA). Baez singled up the middle with runners on the corners in the seventh inning to tie the game at four…then Heyward flashed a bit of Javy on the basepaths and scored from first …
Cubs 11, Twins 10
OSS: Cubs finish off the sweep with a bit of late drama to close it out. Three up: Jon Lester hit his second career homer to get the Cubs eight run rally started in the second inning. He almost batted again in the inning, and a second homer in that spot would have been pretty much perfect for how crazy …
Cubs 14, Twins 9
OSS: Cubs hit 17 singles to outlast Twins in brutal heat. Three up: Almora, Zobrist, Bote, and Heyward all had big games by WPA on the back of a combined 10-14 with four walks. They were smart enough to make all of those hits singles, as running in this game was not a good idea given that four players, including …
Cubs 6, Cardinals 3
OSS: Cubs draw six walks to chase Carlos Martinez early and take the lead against the Cardinals bullpen. Three up: Ian Happ had the biggest hit of the night, a two out double in the seventh inning to give the Cubs their first lead of the night. Yadier Molina showed the calm leadership he is known for in his reaction …
Cubs 13, Cardinals 5
OSS: Cubs bomb their way out of a slump. Three up: Kris Bryant broke his month-long homerless streak with a bomb to LF in the third inning. It’s one of the stranger slumps you’ll see – Bryant was merely above average while he was scuffling. He add two more RsBI with a single in the Cubs rally in the fifth …
Cubs 7, Brewers 2 (11 innings)
OSS: First place! Three+ up: Jason Heyward’s bat is so hot right now, you can see it from space. He drove in Ben Zobrist in the eighth inning to tie up the game against the best reliever in baseball. A lefty! Speaking of Zobrist, that run was set up by some great baserunning. Zobrist moved to second on a sac …
Cubs 3, Braves 2 (5.15.18)
OSS: Cubs mount a late comeback to eke out a win. Three up: The Cubs came back in the top of the ninth against erstwhile Cubs hurler Arodys Vizcaino, thanks to a hustle double by Almora and run scoring hits by Addy and Zobrist to tie and lead the game, respectively. To be technically correct, the best kind of correct, …
Cubs 13, Marlins 4
OSS: The Cubs apparently just love sweeps. Three+ up: Addison Russell knocked in his first homer of the year to cap off the Cubs eight run third inning. He started the inning with a leadoff double, and also added two walks and a single later in the game. The offense in general was firing on all cylinders today, with an …
Cubs 4, Marlins 3 (5.8.18)
OSS: Just enough diggity from the bullpen and offense. Three up: With Darvish on the DL, it was a bullpen day for the Cubs. After the nominal starter Jen-Ho Tseng was chased following two ineffective innings, the rest of the Cubs pen posted a combined line of 7 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 7 K. All of the …