OSS: Cubs win a bizarre one. Three Six up There were too many crazy plays in this game to stick to just three. WPA-wise this was one of the craziest games I’ve seen. There were twenty separate plays that swung win probability by more than ten percent. The biggest one was Jorge Soler‘s game-tying homer in the ninth (.470 WPA). …
Cubs 6, Dodgers 4 (8.26.16)
OSS: Bryant and Heyward fuel a Cubs comeback. Three up: Kris Bryant poured a dump truck full of concrete into the foundation of his MVP case, hitting home runs number 34 and 35 to lead the Cubs to victory and put him back in the NL lead for homers. He might even have passed Mike Trout in the fWAR race, …
Series Preview: Chicago Cubs (81-45) at Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles (71-55)
It’s our last chance to hear Vin Scully call a Cubs game. Boo. The Dodgers have been kind of a mess injury-wise this year, but somehow find themselves at the top of their division anyway. Despite having fourteen (!) different pitchers start a game this year, they still have the sixth-best starter ERA in the league. If you made a …
Cubs 6, Padres 3
OSS: Cubs sweep away the Padres for their 81st win. Three up: The Cubs jumped on the Padres early, hitting two doubles and a triple in their first three plate appearances. The top of the order combined to go 5-13, scoring five runs. Kyle Hendricks struck out eight batters in six innings, and managed to hold the lead the offense …
Cubs 5, Padres 3 (8.23.16)
OSS: There’s no such thing as an easy win, I guess. Three up: Kris Bryant homered again, bringing his season total up to 33, and salted the rest of his performance with two walks. Going into the game he had tied last year’s 6.6 fWAR total, and there’s still a month and change to go. Addison Russell also had a …
Cubs 9, Rockies 2 (8.20.16)
OSS: The Rockies can’t figure out Mike Montgomery and Trevor Cahill is a sentence I expected to write Three up: Mike Montgomery was great in his first start with the Cubs, and surprisingly efficient. I didn’t get into the game until the top of the third due to big lines (and spotting a ramen place as I was trying to …
Series Preview: Chicago Cubs (77-43) at Colorado Rockies (58-63)
I’ve got tickets to the first few games of this series, and waited until late to buy them figuring there would be plenty available even with the Cubs juggernaut rolling in to town. But the Rockies decided to be kind of good a few weeks back, even surfacing for a few gasps of air at the .500 mark earlier this …
Cubs 6, Brewers 1 (8.17.16)
OSS: Cubs turn it into a snoozer early Three up: The Cubs scored five times in the first inning, forcing Jimmy Olsen to throw a Simon-esque number of pitches to get out of the inning. Even Heyward got a hit, on a disintegrating bat double. Jorge Soler capped off the inning with a laser beam to left that drove in …
Cubs 4, Brewers 0; Cubs 4, Brewers 1 (8.16.16)
OSS: Cubs were three outs away from back-to-back shutouts in a single day. Three to six up: After struggling in the PCL for the past month during his rehab, Cahill had no trouble handling the Brewers lineup. As Josh pointed out, the average PCL lineup might be better (dying laughing). Given that his longest start at Iowa was four innings, …
Series Preview: Milwaukee Brewers (52-64) at Chicago Cubs (73-43)
The Brewers come to town to close out this homestand, and the teams get started with a double-header to make up for a rainout back in April. When last we checked in, the Brewers were bad. Checking again….they’re still pretty bad. They traded catcher Jonathan Lucroy and closer Jeremy Jeffress at the deadline but they didn’t have that much to …