Cubs 2, Cardinals 0

In Postgame by berselius121 Comments

OSS: Cyle does his thing, the bullpen doesn’t do its thing.

Three up:

  1. Cyle continued his dominance of the Cardinals this season, and now has allowed just one earned run in 23 innings, striking out 13 and walking none. He had to work around a little trouble in this one at times but managed to get the job done. After a rocky start to the season in April, Hendricks’ ERA is all the way down to 3.07. The dude can pitch
  2. Ian Happ picked up his first RBI of the year on a single that scored Kris Bryant from second base. I would need to double check to be sure, but I think this is the Cubs first non-HR with RISP since May 7 or so. It certainly feels that way.
  3. The bullpen didn’t shit the bed, though Kimbrel came pretty close to giving up the lead.

Three down:

  1. Javy scored the second run of the game on a botched pickoff to 2b where he should have been dead to rights. Instead the Cardinals biffed it and he managed to trot on home while the ball trickled into CF. Reverse TOOTBLAN?
  2. It wasn’t the first boneheaded baserunning play of the day, as Wilson Contreras tried to follow Heyward’s example and take an extra base on his single in the second inning, only to be thrown out at second to end the inning rather than leave runners at the corners with two outs for Bryzzo.
  3. Two runs isn’t really going to cut it most days, but I’ll take the W. More offense would be good though.

Next up: The Cubs go for the series win with Big Jon Lester on the mound. He takes on Jack Flaherty at 6:15 PM CT.

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  1. Ryno

    Two runs isn’t really going to cut it most days, but I’ll take the W. More offense…

    What’s the W. More offense?

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  2. andcounting

    Ryno: What’s the W. More offense?

    W. More, notorious fencer of the 16th century, whose aggressive, drunken technique decimated Benetti’s defense. It’s a bold choice when your opponent expects you to attack using Capa Ferro and would likely counter with Thibault, which cancels out Capa Ferro (unless your opponent has studied his Agrippa).

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  3. Perkins

    I was at the game last night and by the 8th, a bunch of Cardinals fans were heading for the exits. Given the porous state of the Cubs bullpen and the BFIBs’ self-perception, I was a bit surprised.

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  4. WaLi

    Perkins,

    Don’t you see, they were being the best fans in baseball by leaving early so the opposing team can enjoy the game.

    Also keep up whatever you are doing in the hotel to that pitching squad. If you can do something to liven up the bats too that would be great.

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  5. Smokestack Lightning

    Castellanos seems like Daniel Murphy lite. I don’t expect anyone to make a huge difference but I didn’t expect anyone the Cubs gave up to help win anytime soon. Mostly disappointed and frustrated by the rich people who run the team

    Apparently, ownership coughed up whatever funds were needed to get Castellanos. So kudos to Theo for whatever sleight of hand or Trump contribution he had to make to get it.

    What I don’t get is the Cubs have been among the most active teams in trade and free agency (Kimbrel) since the season began. The hell didn’t they do more of this active stuff during the offseason? I’m not talking about Harper or even Kimbrel. A lot of the woes of the bullpen could have been prevented if they’d just ponied up a relatively modest amount of money for some quality middle relief in December.

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  6. WaLi

    Smokestack Lightning,

    Eh I mean Strop imploding like he has wasn’t expected. Brandon Morrow being hurt still wasn’t expected. CJ Edwards being called out on his new delivery and then never returning to form wasn’t expected. I know you exclude Kimbrel, but the front office knew Kimbrel would still be available and saved a draft pick by waiting.

    Even through those events, the Cubs are still in 1st place. Was it a gamble? Sure. But I think you look at the way the team (in particular the pitchers) performed the first half and it’s definitely in the lower quartile of most projections outside dm’s.

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  7. dmick89

    I actually think Brandon Morrow being hurt was entirely expected and I still have no clue what the Cubs were up to with CJ’s delivery at the beginning of the season. Someone like CJ needs to simplify the delivery, but that was the most complicated delivery in history.

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  8. Ryno

    Smokestack Lightning: Apparently, ownership coughed up whatever funds were needed to get Castellanos. So kudos to Theo for whatever sleight of hand or Trump contribution he had to make to get it.

    I think what Thoyer did was offer DET more prospect value.

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  9. Smokestack Lightning

    Ryno: I think what Thoyer did was offer DET more prospect value.

    I think that’s true as well. But according to BN through Patrick Mooney, ownership increased the budget to make the deal happen.

    Maybe it was just the cost of a bus ticket from Detroit to St. Louis and a night at the Super 8, but it appears they did chuck a couple of bucks into the pot.

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  10. andcounting

    To-day’s base ball squadron, brought to you by Humperdinck Lemon Juice:

    Heyward CF
    Nicholas “Have Fun Storming the” Castellanos RF
    KB-3B
    Rizzo 1B
    Javy SS
    Willson C
    Schwarber LF
    Tony “To the Pain” Kemp 2B
    Lester P

    Humperdinck Lemon Juice: now THAT’S a nice paper cut!

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  11. Smokestack Lightning

    andcounting,

    Maybe I’m reading too much into things like baseball statistics, but I’d say this is precisely the sort of matchup Castellanos shouldn’t get the start for.

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  12. Author
    berselius

    Holy shit, I just saw the clip from the Reds-Pirates fight the other day. Garrett basically charged the entire Pirates dugout.

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  13. Smokestack Lightning

    This offense blows. I feel like every passable Lester start might be his last, and they’re wasting it.

    Granted, Flaherty is pretty good, especially at home, but still.

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  14. Perkins

    “One hit? That’s all they got? One Goddamn hit?”
    “You can’t say Goddamn.”
    “Oh nobody’s listening.”

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  15. BVS

    dmick89,

    I really can’t bat against Pittsburgh. I’m sure Hurdle will order a pitch at my head because I’m smarter, better looking, and know more digits of pi than him. But I’m not really fast enough to avoid the high heater.

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  16. Ryno

    David Kaplan @thekapman
    Sources tell me that Ben Zobrist is expected to arrive in Chicago tomorrow and will be heading to South Bend to train with the Cubs Class A team for at least a few days. His plan for getting in baseball shape remains fluid for the next three weeks.

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  17. andcounting

    I swear, half the headlines anymore look like they’re AI generated. Like this one:

    Jason Witten unfazed by Ezekiel Elliott trip to Cabo.

    I refuse to believe a human being wrote an entire article about that.

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  18. Ryno

    It’s actually 11 HR, but still

    Christopher Kamka @ckamka
    11 of 26 hits Josh Hader has allowed so far this season have been home runs
    5:20 PM – Aug 1, 2019

    Posted by Al Yellon on Aug 1, 2019 | 5:30 PM

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  19. Ryno

    andcounting,

    I’m going to try a thing and see if it’s better than Alvin’s writing. I took the recap text from this thread and removed some subjects and verbs (I removed the first verb after the first noun, then the next noun after that verb, then the next verb after that noun, etc):

    Cyle has allowed 23 innings, walking around a little at times but get the job done. A rocky start to the season in April is the dude. Ian Happ scored from second base. I would need to think the Cubs or so. It certainly feels that way. The bullpen came pretty close.

    Javy botched 2b where he biffed it and trot the ball. Reverse? Wilson Contreras follow example and be at second to leave the corners with two outs for Bryzzo. Two runs cut most days, but I’ll would be though.

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  20. Ryno

    dmick89,

    I read that tweet and Alvin’s comment at least a dozen times trying to make sure I wasn’t missing something.

    Maybe Alvin’s next-level trolling all of us.

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  21. WaLi

    dmick89,

    Ben Franklin said, “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”, but he wasn’t alive when, Al Yellon was born, so I’d like, to add a third, – Al being, an idiot.

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  22. andcounting

    andcounting,

    Never mind. I read a few lines and subconsciously attempted suicide. I don’t think it was going to be as funny as your editing results, so I’ll just back away slowly.

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  23. andcounting

    Ryno,

    Alvin, as everyone knows, is from Australia, and Australia is populated entirely by criminals. And criminals are used to having people not trust them as Alvin is not trusted by me. So I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you.

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  24. andcounting

    Castellanos is officially a Cub now that he’s got a TOOTBLAN under his belt. The hits and walks are nice too.

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  25. SK

    I haven’t been around and you guys probably already covered this, and it’s a Friday afternoon so no one’s going to see this anyway, but it seems kind of selfish of Zobrist to just stroll in at this point in the season and say OK he’s ready now., give me a month of rehab and then a spot on the 25 man when I’m ready. I dunno. Maybe it’d have been different if it was all arranged like that at the beginning of the season when he first went on leave. Waiting until Thoyer said it’s now or never at the end of July seems … very understanding of Thoyer, but kinda shitty of Zo towards his team…

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  26. Smokestack Lightning

    SK:
    I haven’t been around and you guys probably already covered this, and it’s a Friday afternoon so no one’s going to see this anyway, but it seems kind of selfish of Zobrist to just stroll in at this point in the season and say OK he’s ready now., give me a month of rehab and then a spot on the 25 man when I’m ready. I dunno. Maybe it’d have been different if it was allarranged like that at the beginning of the season when he first went on leave. Waiting until Thoyer said it’s now or never at the end of July seems …very understanding of Thoyer, but kinda shitty of Zo towards his team…

    But he is Zobrist the White. And he comes back to us now—at the turn of the tide.

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  27. dmick89

    SK:
    I haven’t been around and you guys probably already covered this, and it’s a Friday afternoon so no one’s going to see this anyway, but it seems kind of selfish of Zobrist to just stroll in at this point in the season and say OK he’s ready now., give me a month of rehab and then a spot on the 25 man when I’m ready. I dunno. Maybe it’d have been different if it was allarranged like that at the beginning of the season when he first went on leave. Waiting until Thoyer said it’s now or never at the end of July seems …very understanding of Thoyer, but kinda shitty of Zo towards his team…

    I don’t have a problem. Life gets in the way sometimes and you’ve got to take care of yourself first. If Zobrist wasn’t going to be any good to the team and needed to be away, that’s fine. He wasn’t paid. If the Cubs had acquired someone in the meantime that made having Zobrist pointless then so be it, but they didn’t.

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  28. WaLi

    dmick89,

    I guess we will see. He probably won’t play good enough to make the playoff roster. I just hope he isn’t a distraction or isn’t forced upon the roster because of time served. Considering the roster expands to 40 in September it probably isn’t a big deal, but I couldn’t imagine a divorce being an acceptable FMLA excuse in any other job (yeah I know sports isn’t comparable).

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  29. Rizzo the Rat

    I think most teams with a 38-year-old player near the end of his contact would be happy if the took unpaid leave.

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  30. dmick89

    My guess is that Zobrist offered to retire, but Thoyer suggested keeping this potential window to return open and I think it was a good decision. Hopefully he can help the team out down the stretch. They’re probably going to need it.

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  31. andcounting

    If you’ve ever been around somebody going through a nasty divorce, you know it’s better for everyone if they stay the fuck away for a bit. (dying laughing)

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  32. BVS

    WaLi,

    I think a nasty divorce would likely be acceptable for FMLA leave where I work. In fact, if one of my supervisees applied for FMLA because of divorce proceedings, I’d probably endorse it.

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  33. dmick89

    WaLi: He probably won’t play good enough to make the playoff roster.

    I think the only way Zobrist isn’t on the playoff roster if the Cubs make it is if he appears to be so overmatched that he’s of no use whatsoever. If he shows even an ounce of potential, he’ll be on that roster.

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  34. andcounting

    Seriously, when there are kids involved it’s a whole different scenario, too. I don’t think we know how custody of their kids has been laid out during this time, but if Ben has had them for any stretch, MLB life would not have been ideal—his time off may have been a basis for retaining custody during the divorce process. If children’s well being is a priority in our society, flexibility around employment during divorce should be commonplace.

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  35. BVS

    Some potentially DFAs this week that could be interesting depth, sorta like de la Rosa turned out to be last year.

    Lucroy
    Tony Sipp….

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  36. Author
    berselius

    The Blue Cross ads on Cubs radio broadcasts every year are always terrible, but they’ve really topped themselves in their ability to cram a billion cliches and mealymouthed marketing crap into a single ad that tries to pretend their goal isn’t to suck as much money as possible out of everyone.

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  37. EnricoPallazzo

    berselius:
    The Blue Cross ads on Cubs radio broadcasts every year are always terrible, but they’ve really topped themselves in their ability to cram a billion cliches and mealymouthed marketing crap into a single ad that tries to pretend their goal isn’t to suck as much money as possible out of everyone.

    It’s definitely my most hated ad right now. I hate the xfinity ads with a ferocity that makes a rabid pitbull look like a bunny rabbit in a poppy field. But somehow the bcbs ad people manage to out-shitty the xfinity ad people. Not an easy feat.

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  38. Author
    berselius

    To-day’s get away day squadron

    CF Heyward
    RF Castellanos
    1B Rizzo
    SS Baez
    LF War Bear
    C Caratini
    2B Kemp
    3B Bote
    P Darvish

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  39. JKV

    I don’t think we talk enough about how great Heyward has been this year. This is exactly what we were hoping to get.

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