Chicago Cubs 3 @ St Louis Cardinals 0
The Cubs shut out the Cards in St. Louis for the first time since '97 last night. Perhaps more surprisingly, Chris Rusin was most responsible for it. 6 innings of 7 hit, 2 walk, 5 K scoreless ball? A 3.08 ERA? The regression is going to be ugly as hell, but for now, please enjoy Chris Rusin, Magician. James Russell got two outs in the 7th, striking out both and not allowing a hit. Blake Parker got the last in the 7th without issue. Pedro Strop was nasty as usual, touching 97 with his fastball, striking out one, and generally looking too good to be on this Cubs team. Reliever variance is fun. Kevin Gregg walked one, struck out one, and got the save.
On the offensive side, it was death by a thousand paper cuts, as the Cubs did not have an XBH on the night, but did draw 8 walks. The Junior Lake Show was 1-4 with a walk. Lake seems to be displaying way more pitch recognition in the early going than I was expecting out of him. It looked like he was getting busted with breaking stuff away all night, and was, for the most part, laying off of it. Who knows if it'll last, but it's been pleasantly surprising seeing Junior not totally fall off a cliff after his blazing start. Anthony Rizzo was 1-5, and once again has an average under .240 and an OBP under .330. His BABIP is still pretty crazily low out of context at .262, but in 1013 MLB PAs he's put up a .275 BABIP, so maybe this is less out of line than we might think. If it turns out he's just always going to be a relatively low BABIP guy, then it's really nice seeing his plate patience take an upswing this year, because he'll need it. Welington Castillo continues to hit well of late, going 1-2 with a walk. Starlin Castro was 1-3. Darwin Barney was 1-2 with 2 walks, which I'm pretty sure is the definition of doing it wrong if you're the Cardinals.
Fresno Grizzlies 4 @ Iowa Cubs 5
Lively day for the I-Cubs bats in this one, as even Mike Olt managed to get a hit, having a 1-4 day with a 2B. Jae-Hoon Ha was 3-5 with a 2B. Julio Borbon led off and was 2-4 with a walk. Nobody else matters.
Jake Arrieta had a bit of a rough day, lasting only 3+ innings and allowing 2 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks. He K'ed 3 as well. As he was being taken out he apparently got in a fight with the home plate umpire, and was ejected for good measure. Fiery. Casey Coleman worked the next 4 and let 2 more cross on 4 hits, 2 walks, and 4 Ks. Chang-Yong Lim worked the 8th and was fine. Brian Schlitter struck out 2 in a spotless ninth.
Montgomery Biscuits 10 @ Tennessee Smokies 11
Some really lousy pitching in this one on both sides, with a combined 33 hits and 13 walks between the two clubs. Javier Baez got the big moment with the walkoff hit in the ninth, going 2-5 with a walk and a K on the day. Arismendy Alcantara had a day himself, going 3-6. Christian Villanueva had them both beat, though, going 3-5 with two doubles and a homer. Damn, man. Brett Jackson's Lifeless Corpse was 2-3 with 2 walks and a CS. I miss the days of him doing Brett Jackson Things. Matt Szczur was 1-3. Justin Bour was 1-4 with a walk and a bomb. John Andreoli was 2-5 with 2 SBs.
Dae-Eun Rhee had a bad day. Really, everyone had a bad day though, as only one Smokie managed to not allow a run. For Rhee's part, his line finished at 5 IP, 7 hits, 3 walks, 5 runs, 4 Ks and 2 homers. Forget about it and try again next week. Jeffry Antigua worked the next two and allowed a run on a hit and 2 Ks. Dayan Diaz allowed a run for every out he got, 2 each with a walk, a K, and 2 hits. Yeiper Castillo envied this efficiency, and thus gave up a run on a hit and a walk in getting his one out. Frank Batista blew the save in the top of the ninth, allowing a run on 3 hits and a strikeout. Hunter Cervenka managed to get an out without anybody crossing the plate, finally, but not before walking one. He struck out one. Not a good day for Smokies hurlers.
Daytona Cubs @ Clearwater Threshers
Rained out. I am shocked, shocked.
Burlington Bees 6 @ Kane County 5 (10 Innings)
You may have seen the skunk on the field delaying the game during this one. That was a silly thing that happened.
Not too much to get excited about here otherwise. Jeimer Candelario had a 2-3 day with 2 walks. Marco Hernandez was 3-5 with a double and a triple. And Carlos Escobar was 2-5 with a homer.
On the pitching side, Tyler Skulina worked 2 1/3 and gave up 3 runs (2 earned) on four hits, a walk, and 3 Ks. Not great, but he's new here. Al Yevoli was worse, allowing 2 more runs across in 1.2 innings on 3 hits and 1 K. Rob Zastryzny made his KC debut and acquitted himself admirably, allowing 2 hits, a walk, and fanning one in three innings of work. It's like he's a second round pick or something. Andrew McKirahan worked the next two and was excellent, striking out 4 and not allowing a baserunner. Michael Hamann took the loss in the tenth, giving up a run on 2 hits and a walk with 1 K.
Vancouver Canadians 4 @ Boise Hawks 5
Kris Bryant continues to rake, going 2-3 with a double and a walk. His Boise line now stands at .315/.381/.648/1.029, with a 1.287 OPS over his last ten. He's 14 for his last 34 and eight of those fourteen have gone for extra bases. There's rumors that he's going to get sent to Daytona soon, which seems like the worst idea to me. The guy finally has the rust shaken off from a month-plus of being away from baseball, and you're going to send him to a league where he'll get rained out 3 out of every 4 days? This is why I'm carrying the torch for sending Bryant to Tennessee. I suspect Kane County wouldn't offer much of a challenge for him either, and besides, Candelario is younger, has performed well this season, and needs consistent ABs. Daytona doesn't work because of the rainouts. And Bryant is your number two overall pick who was the best collegiate hitter over the past year. Challenge him. If he fails, send him to Daytona to start next year. If he succeeds, that's nothing but surplus value and time saved on his development plan. This will never actually happen, but it should.
Anyway, the rest of Boise. Carlos Penalver was 2-4 with a double for the Hawks' only other XBH. Kevin Encarnacion was 3-5. Yasiel Balaguert was 1-4. Jacob Rogers was 1-4.
James Pugliese was solid, working 4 innings and allowing 6 hits, a walk, and a run against 3 strikeouts. The guy is a ground ball machine, currently sitting with a 2.00 GB/FB rate. Zack Godley had a rough outing, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and 2 innings, and only fanning one. Scott Frazier allowed 3 walks in 0.2 innings, but didn't let any score and struck out one. Jasvir Rakkar closed it out with 2.1 innings of 2 hit, 1 walk, 2 K scoreless ball.
Brian Boguesevic is making rehab appearances here, and went 1-4 with a walk and 2 Ks. Jeffrey Baez was 2-5. Charcer Burks was 1-3. Nothing else really interesting going on here.
Comments
I always read Al Yevoli as Al Yellon.
sitrickQuote Reply
Re: Watkins vs Barney, I’m selfish and just want a September Alcantara callup.
sitrickQuote Reply
I’d like to see that too
dmick89Quote Reply
Barney heard you guys and started getting nervous.
joshQuote Reply
Always great to see the Cubs beat up on the Cardinals
BerseliusQuote Reply
(dying laughing), just received via the OV facebook account:
(dying laughing) (dying laughing)
The Cubs had the 31st pick in that draft…and it was before Epstein was even with the team
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
+1
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Berselius wrote:
I mean, dude could have saved everyone some trouble and just said that.
sitrickQuote Reply
Berselius wrote:
I’m bored.
sitrickQuote Reply
A Cubs fan who complains because he thinks their GM is awful yet he doesn’t want them to win? (dying laughing)
dmick89Quote Reply
@ sitrick:
(dying laughing)
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
Maybe he’s saying that if The Cubs win the World Series, he’ll be fulfilled as a baseball fan and no longer need to watch?
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
@ Rizzo the Rat:
The guy likes Old Style. I don’t think he’s capable of understanding fulfillment. Or anything else.
dmick89Quote Reply
Drinking PBR out of boredom. It is terrible. I’ve made a huge mistake.
sitrickQuote Reply
What happened to f***t points?
Suburban kidQuote Reply
False
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
Plugin hasn’t been updated in 2 to 3 years so it’s a huge security risk.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
You didn’t have to?
dmick89Quote Reply
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehr0pTyMDQA
GWQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
Negatory. Logged right in no hassle.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
You must be special.
dmick89Quote Reply
Colin on defensive metrics: http://wgntv.com/2013/08/11/stats-sunday-getting-defensive/
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I didn’t have to reset or lose pwd either. Just had to login anew from my android.
SVBQuote Reply
Meet the New Shit, Same as the Old Shit
sitrickQuote Reply