OSS: Cubs win a bizarre marathon of a game on a stumble by Gregory Polanco.
Three up:
1. Kris Bryant got the scoring started for the day with a three run blast in the third inning. I think Pirates starter Jeff Locke was already up to 80 or so pitches by then. Pretty baffling that Clint Hurdle would have trotted him out there for the fourth seeing how badly the Cubs had his number that day.
2. Jorge Soler had a great day at the plate as well, having only one hit (though it did drive in a run), but drawing four walks. Two of them were the intentional variety, because teams just don’t fear Matt Szczur’s bat for some reason.
3. The bullpen looked like an utter diaper bag dumpster fire today in general but have to give credit where it’s due to Zac Rossup at least. He was the only reliever (out of seven) who didn’t allow a baserunner in this game. Phil Coke’s services were not needed, but something tells me that Rosscup would still be the only one in this category if he had.
Three down
1. Hendricks got seven strikeouts in his five-plus innings of work, but he was being hit hard. I wonder if the Cubs should split up him and Wood so they don’t start on back to back days anymore.
2. Not surprisingly the lowest WPA play of the game was the Cubs first time in extras with bases loaded, one out, and Matt Szczur at the plate. Castro was out by half a mile, but with the pitcher and/or a possibly still hobbling David Ross coming up next, you just had to hope for something weird to happen. Second time was the charm.
3. Francisco Cervelli’s teammates shouldn’t give him a pat on the back for yesterday’s game. Despite taking one of the worst beatings I’ve ever seen behind the plate for a catcher, he just kept coming through for the Pirates. His game tying single off Rondon was the highest WPA play of the game by far, and his total game WPA was the highest on their team (second, ironically, was Polanco).
Next game: Cole vs Lester, 3:05 PM CT