OSS: Cubs hit three homers off Liriano while First Half Jason Hammel does his thing.
Three up
- Addison Muscle had the biggest hit of the day, getting the Cubs scoring going with a three run bomb off Liriano in the fourth. Russell quietly has a .264/.379/.427 line with three home runs on the season, good enough for a 112 wRC+ and nearly half as much WAR as he posted in all of last season. His strikeouts are down and his walk rate has nearly doubled.
- Jason Hammel pitched into the seventh inning, striking out eight against two walks and two runs. Let’s hope the cutting he took of Jake Arrieta’s beard continues to bear fruit and keep him pitching like this all season.
- After Russell, the Cubs next highest WPA leader was none other than Jorge Soler, who singled in his first PA and walked in his next one, eventually scoring on Russell’s HR. With another lefty going tomorrow, let’s see if the Cubs plan to build up his confidence manages to work itself out.
Three down
- I thought we’d get a break from the intra-CubsTwitter chippiness with Castro gone, but it looks like Soler has squarely taken his place. Any time he strikes out, it’s all “trade him for a bag of balls”, any time he gets a hit it’s all “WHERE ARE YOU NOW HATERS COME AT ME BRO”. Ugh.
- Fowler drove in a late run, but it was rough going for him early on. He had no answer for Liriano’s changeup, striking out in his first two PAs and grounding into an inning ending double play in his next one.
- A throwing error by David Ross was the source of the only serious Pirates rally earlyish in the game. Not that it’s for defensive purposes or anything, but I am really looking forward to Montero getting back.