OSS: That fucking eighth inning.
Three up:
- Just like game one, Bryzzo each struck out in their first PAs then turned it on later in the game. They led off the fourth with a double by Bryant and a homer to right by Rizzo, which gave the Cubs a 3-1 lead that should have held up the rest of the way.
- We weren't sure what we were going to get from Jon Lester, but he put together a pretty good game. I'll ignore what happened in the fifth since I was in the car for that part (dying laughing). He only had two strikeouts, but compared to what all the other big name starters around the league have been doing in the playoffs this outing might as well be a Maddux. He pitched six innings, giving up only a solo HR to Rendon in the first.
- Willson Contreras answered that Rendon home run right away with a moonshot that barely found its way out in the top of the second. I don't think you see many 45 degree launch angle home runs.
Three down:
- The Cubs bullpen imploded in the eighth. Carl Edwards Jr looked pretty good in game one, but he gave up a homer to Bryce Harper with a man on to tie the game in this one. I'd rather that Joe brought in a lefty to face Harper, but I'm guessing that he wanted Edwards to be his Eighth Inning Guy. At least it wasn't, say, Michael Taylor or someone who hit this. Bryce Harper is pretty good. But I'm pretty sure the sole reason they put Justin Wilson on this roster was to pitch to Harper in high leverage situations, so this sucks.
- Monty relieved Edwards and gave up three more runs on a Ryan Zimmerman dinger. This also sucks but I chalk this up more to the Nats being good than the Cubs mismanaging things.
- Ben Zobrist managed to scratch out a single against the Nats pen, but overall he's looked pretty bad this series.
Next up: The series moves to Wrigley, where Jose Quintana takes on an indeterminately injured Max Scherzer at 3 or 4:30 PM CT, depending on how things go with the AL games today.
Comments
Less irked about the Zim HR, but still not happy about it. Zim has thrashed LHP all year long. Cubs were in a spot at that point where any sort of hit is bad news. Why let Zim hit where he’s at his mashiest? I get the thought of the DPGB is elevated with Montgomery out there, but you also want a solid shot at a K too, as any ball struck leaves you in the hands of the BABIP gods. A bleeder up the middle probably means game over just as much as the 3-run HR. You also want a solid shot at a K there, and Montgomery isn’t that kind of pitcher, and Zimmerman isn’t that kind of hitter against LHP.
Again, it’s about putting the odds in your favor as much as possible. You have a bevy of non-elite but still useful relievers (if given the right matchup) at your disposal. You also have an elite reliever in Davis.
Only way it makes any sense is Joe was thinking too far ahead to a btm of the 9th that never happened because he was too fucking dumb to make sure he got the outs right in front of him.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
During moments like these, I wonder what Theo and Jed are thinking. They have to be seeing the same things. They’ll back Joe publicly, of course, but this shit has to drive them nuts too.
Can we just put Joe on the party planning committee and get someone else to make the tactical decisions? I bet Joe would be happier with that arrangement anyway.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Smokestack Lightning,
Yeah, Davis probably should have been in there. I kind of trust Monty though.
berseliusQuote Reply
I’m probably much less salty because I didn’t watch this live and my annoyance was directed elsewhere – I was waiting for the incompetent Walmart pharmacy to take an hour to fill a prescription and mostly followed it through texts from my parents (dying laughing).
berseliusQuote Reply
Has anybody played out the counterfactuals? Sorry, but Edwards facing Harper was fine—he just didn’t execute. Now let’s say any other pitcher came in from the pen and didn’t execute. What would the sentiment be?
This is not a pulling Hendricks early for Jon Lester to hand to a diminished Chapman nor a save Britton for the offseason kind of moment. So chillax all.
Now, can we have a calm and rational conversation on why Maddon is a terrible manager: Why in the fuck is Zobrist starting over Jay? Maddon is the fucking worst. Cubs fucking lose.
ceruleanQuote Reply
don’t get your alibis confused.
SKQuote Reply
A. Lefty starting pitcher.
B. Most projection systems have Zobrist as the better hitter overall, even after his down year.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
(I also don’t think there was anything egregious about pulling Hendricks early in Game 7, but I’ve gone over that already.)
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Unless trying to get the most favorable matchups just doesn’t matter to begin with, I don’t see how it was fine. If Maddon had rolled with Montgomery against Harper and the HR had happened, it would be a shrug-it-off-moment for me. I can live with Harper beating the Cubs against a solid LHP. If Maddon had rolled out Davis against Zimmerman and Zim wins the game, fine. I can live with that too. Bad day. BABIP gods are bitches, move on.
But not here and not with these calls. I’m not looking for any reason to get mad at Joe. What I’m looking for is smart fucking managing, and for all the credit he gets for being one of these, he so rarely ever is.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
berselius,
Why deal with big box incompetence when you can have access to incompetence on every corner?
ceruleanQuote Reply
Exactly.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
I think there’s also that thing about postseason experience. Perhaps meaningless but I think Joe feels some weight to that because Zo has that history.
67catchQuote Reply
Smokestack Lightning,
I certainly would have preferred to see Davis face Zimmerman, but it’s not the craziest not to ride your closer hard in a tied game 2. Series context matters.
ceruleanQuote Reply
cerulean,
They were the only pharmacy still open – needed something filled quickly. We usually deal with Walgreens incompetency.
Berselius is too lazy to log inQuote Reply
Heh. I guess I agree with Brett.
ceruleanQuote Reply
It does. Not giving away games in a best of 5 against a better opponent would be to take that context very seriously, imo. There’s also the upcoming day off to consider too. A little more of your best reliever with a day of rest coming up is probably something you can afford to do, again, because the race to 3 is a shorter one.
But whatever, not getting mad has its advantages, I suppose. Cubs are still in good position to take the series. And I’m sure your blood pressure has been lower than mine today. (dying laughing)
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Calmer than you are.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Smokestack Lightning,
Also, I absolutely do not believe Joe gave away this game. It’s not like he put non-2014–2015 Grimm on the mound.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Fine. I won’t haggle over what “giving away the game” means. You’re right. There’s always somebody worse he could have put in there that would better fit that comment. In this case, at minimum, he didn’t put the Cubs in the best position to get out of that 8th inning unscathed, and that’s his job. He deliberately steered the ship into elevated chances of bad things happening, and they did. That’s not good managing.
If it were in the middle of July, I probably wouldn’t give near as much of a shit. I’d go “Fuckin’ Joe” and leave it at that. But now is when these decisions matter. And it cost the Cubs a game they badly needed, as all postseason wins are.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Smokestack Lightning,
Just to be the analogy police, it’s not really that he steered the ship into bad waters so much as he didn’t steer away from them.
berseliusQuote Reply
Not sure why Leonys Martin wasn’t warming up in the pen. He’s on the team for a reason.
MylesQuote Reply
Myles,
(dying laughing)
berseliusQuote Reply
Eat a bag of dicks, Mike Pence. You might even enjoy it.
berseliusQuote Reply
For all the right’s complaints about the left as snowflakes, there sure seem to be a lot of fragile white folks on the right.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
Maybe he should have stood on a podium beside the field and directed a steely grimace at the kneelers, so that they know his resolve.
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
p. sure he would
uncle daveQuote Reply
Trump would never be smart enough to go to a game knowing players would be kneeling and then leave in disgust. Pence frightens me.
dmick89Quote Reply
Wow, the Astros just scored multiple runs in the first inning.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Mookie Betts.
ceruleanQuote Reply
I don’t even know what he did, but I approve this message.
ceruleanQuote Reply
cerulean,
Knowing that some nfl players take a knee before the anthem, he went to a game, waited for the players to kneel and then left in disgust.
dmick89Quote Reply
It’s just a publicity stunt. One the media will be all too happy to cover for 48 straight hours I’m sure.
dmick89Quote Reply
Boston is up 4-3 now. I’d love the Yankees to win so we get one more day with four playoff games.
dmick89Quote Reply
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
Doesn’t show up from the embed, but pic one was from 2014, pic two was supposedly from today’s game.
berseliusQuote Reply
Looks as though the Cubs aren’t the only ones with bullpen issues.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Clearly different. The blue is totally darker on the right. You are all left-wing nutjobs who hate America and our vice president is a hero.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
I wouldn’t mind seeing LaStella get the start at 2B tomorrow.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
La Stella probably should have started game one. I’ll be surprised if he starts tomorrow. Strasburg seems like the kind of pitcher that La Stella would have better success against. Then again, La Stella would almost certainly be better offensively against Scherzer.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
Especially since Scherzer will probably be on a potch count, LaStella could almost certainly drive that up better than Javy.
PerkinsQuote Reply
I’ve said this before, but I think starting La Stella against Scherzer makes more sense than against Strasburg. Only the former has a large platoon split.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Why don’t they make the whole plane out of Packers-Cowboys games.
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
That second tweet was likely sent in the morning on the way to the game, so I doubt any deception was going on. I would prefer them to make asses of themselves without trying to make them look sillier giving credence to the narrative that liberals are just looking for ways to paint them in a bad light. They are doing a good job without any help. #competentlyIncompetent
ceruleanQuote Reply
Greg Bird is not impressed by Andrew Miller.
dmick89Quote Reply
Bird homered off Miller. Yanks up 1–0.
ceruleanQuote Reply
cerulean,
Yeah, I couldn’t agree more. They don’t need any help. I think I read that tweet was sent 90 minutes before the game so at the time it had to be obvious to anyone who was interested. I just get the impression sometimes the people tracking their every move to look for any possible misstep are as free with the facts as the administration is. It’s really annoying.
dmick89Quote Reply
cerulean,
Fair enough. He can still eat that bag of dicks though (dying laughing).
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
Agreed. This whole thing was obviously a stunt. Fuck him.
dmick89Quote Reply
Chapman is really on today.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Amen to that. And hallelujah too.
ceruleanQuote Reply
So I don’t think you can be a fan of baseball and not appreciate the homerun robberies and one not that probably would have sent two teams home today. What a great game baseball is.
ceruleanQuote Reply
cerulean,
Not only did Judge rob a home run, but in so doing he prevented that knob Zack Hample from getting a souvenir because sometimes the universe is alright.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Greg Bird hit the most home run ever yesterday.
http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=20962227
MylesQuote Reply
This is an understatement. That ball went into geosynchronous orbit.
MylesQuote Reply
The Yankees are a fun team, man. Hope they go all the way if we don’t.
MylesQuote Reply
Myles,
Added bonus is that Starlin Castro would get a ring and that would be fun to see.
dmick89Quote Reply
The active player without a ring I most want to get one, and it’s not particularly close.
MylesQuote Reply
If only to piss Steve Stone off.
MylesQuote Reply
Myles,
Does Stone dislike Castro or something? I haven’t listened to that speak in years.
dmick89Quote Reply
I also just like how the Yankees play. They’re fun as you said.
dmick89Quote Reply
Happy Mitchell Trubisky day.
EdwinQuote Reply
He sure does.
MylesQuote Reply
To-day’s base ball squadron
CF Jay
3B Bryant
1B Rizzo
C Contreras
2B Zobrist
LF War Bear
RF Heyward
SS Russell
P Quintana
berseliusQuote Reply
Cubs lose.
RynoQuote Reply
Ryno,
It could go either way.
berseliusQuote Reply
With the ABs Zobrist has been taking, you have to get his bat in the lineup.
/Maddon
MylesQuote Reply
Zobrist is still in the lineup?
dmick89Quote Reply
http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2017/10/09/man-sues-cubs-major-league-baseball-after-being-blinded-by-a-foul-ball/
berseliusQuote Reply
Dusty Baker:Lenny Harris::Joe Maddon:Ben Zobrist
uncle daveQuote Reply
game thread up: http://obstructedview.net/nlds-game-3-nationals-cubs/
dmick89Quote Reply