Cubs 6, Nats 5

In Postgame by berselius90 Comments

OSS: Cubs squander some early chances, hang on to win.

Three up:

  1. The Kyle Schwarber Leadoff Experiment worked out well this series. Schwarber had three hits and four walks (and one HBP) in 15 PAs. He had RBI on two sac flies in this game, which is not really what you expect to see from a leadoff hitter but the Cubs will take it. Almora will probably find his way back up there against lefties, but so far it looks like Joe has someone he can pencil in without much thought.
  2. Anthony Rizzo hit an opposite field solo shot, putting a four-way tie for the HR lead on the team at 11. The heart of the Cubs lineup now has wRC+ of 156, 138, 148, 175.
  3. After some bullpen shakiness, Steve Cishek came in to nail down your average 2.1 inning save without breaking much of a sweat.

Three down:

  1. Of course, before Cishek came out to close things out in the bottom of the ninth, he got a PA with two outs and a runner on base. I wish I loved anything like Joe loves having relievers hit. Caratini was even out on the on deck circle before Joe called him back.
  2. Javier Baez came up gimpy following a great play in the third inning. He ended up hanging in there for another two innings before being pulled for Russell. It sounds like it’s just a bruised heel, and Javy thinks he should be good to go tomorrow. But maybe it’s a good time for an off day anyway.
  3. Cyle was cruising through the first five innings, but things kind of fell apart after a Russell error in the sixth. The Nats started hitting Hendricks hard, and he and Kinztler managed to escape the inning before what seemed like a comfortable lead slipped away.

Next up: The Cubs take on old pal Jay Carrieta and the Phils for a four game set back at Wrigley. Game one is a 7:05 PM CT.

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  1. Author
    berselius

    (dying laughing) at all the folks grumbling that the GOT show runners are going to ruin another franchise now that they’re doing the next Star Wars movies. It’s almost as if those last two GRRM books didn’t exist.

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  2. JKV

    berselius,

    Not as simple as that. HBO offered as many as 10 seasons with 10 episodes each. The writers wanted to finish it and move on to other projects (Star Wars). GRRM thought it would take 12 seasons.

    I have tons of gripes about the writing, mainly the lack of cohesion or logic. But the main drag is the pacing and quick conclusion. The show has popular due to the excellent writing and storytelling, not CGI dragons. Having to wrap everything up well short of how long it should have taken caused tons of issues in the minds of the main fan base.

    This was because a) the writers hubris that thought they could wrap things up and b) HBO not having the courage to find new writers to finish the series out in a more reasonable timeframe.

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  3. URK

    I’m usually up for complaints about Joe sending a relief pitcher to the plate, but maybe it made sense last night? Trying to balance the chances of Caratini getting a hit (with two outs) vs having to burn another pitcher. You’re probably right to complain but I don’t think its a total gimme as much as usual.

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  4. dmick89

    I haven’t watched Game of Thrones, but was there any way that the fans were going to be pleased with the final season? There are many more dramas that have a conclusion that pisses people off than satisfies them. Breaking Bad seems to be the exception.

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  5. Author
    berselius

    JKV:
    berselius,

    Not as simple as that. HBO offered as many as 10 seasons with 10 episodes each. The writers wanted to finish it and move on to other projects (Star Wars). GRRM thought it would take 12 seasons.

    I have tons of gripes about the writing, mainly the lack of cohesion or logic. But the main drag is the pacing and quick conclusion. The show has popular due to the excellent writing and storytelling, not CGI dragons. Having to wrap everything up well short of how long it should have taken caused tons of issues in the minds of the main fan base.

    This was because a) the writers hubris that thought they could wrap things up and b) HBO not having the courage to find new writers to finish the series out in a more reasonable timeframe.

    They were in kind a tough position due to GRRM. Before I stopped watching the show a few years back I actually kind of admired D+D for how they managed to cut out a lot of the extraneous shit from the books that a good editor would have pushed back on GRRM , if he hadn’t gotten so famous. But I guess I just have an axe to grind on the last two books he published, and moved on years ago when I found other things that scratched the itch that those books used to scratch.

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  6. andcounting

    dmick89,

    Yeah, I don’t think fans wanted it to end. Wanting to like the finale is like hoping for a good break-up. That’s how I felt about Lost, and I like the finale more and more as time goes by. Removed from the hysteria of the moment, my focus departs the quest for the perfect conclusion to the narrative and redirects to appreciating what they did with the characters. I would have liked the writers strike not to have affected that series, but shit happens.

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  7. dmick89

    andcounting,

    I didn’t watch Lost until years later. Actually, I watched it within the last year for the first time and I absolutely loved the ending. I went in expecting to hate it because it’s seemed like one of the most disliked endings ever, but I loved it. What got me to watch Lost was that Damon Lindelof’s The Leftovers had ended and it was and still is maybe my favorite show of all time so I gave Lost a chance and I couldn’t stop watching. I can’t wait until this fall when Watchmen comes out on HBO.

    Lost is a great example of there not existing a perfect ending that would have pleased everyone. It would have been impossible. I have no problem accepting that some loose ends exist. I went in expecting a lot of unanswered questions because he used Let The Mystery Be for The Leftovers opening credits:

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  8. WaLi

    andcounting,

    I needed the show to end. I have gotten to cynical about it and it just wasn’t enjoyable to me anymore. I knew there was no way the final season could be good. S8E2 gave me renewed hope though and I thought they could redeem the story, but everything was downhill from there.

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  9. dmick89

    andcounting,

    It’s different than Lost, but it’s fantastic. I think Lindelof chose that song for the credits after the first season when it seemed like people were again getting worried about getting answers so he changed the credits to that song just to tell people to forget about it. I think he even once said that you’re not going to get the answers you want, but the story is just so good that it doesn’t matter. Carrie Coon is a force and she should have won all the Emmy’s. I haven’t read the book it’s based on, but I’ve heard the show gets better after the first season when they’ve finished adapting the book. If you like Lost, you’ll probably like The Leftovers. It’s different, but it’s got a lot of the same things that made Lost so good. He’s adapting DC’s Watchmen later this year and it I can’t think of a better person to do that.

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  10. Author
    berselius

    dmick89,

    I’ll probably watch it at some point but not anytime soon. My wife worked in a bookstore during peak Left Behind, so she has zero interest in any storyline remotely similar, no matter the pedigree (dying laughing).

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  11. dmick89

    berselius,

    (dying laughing) it’s not an easy watch. I remember thinking I could try and rewatch the series at one point, but couldn’t get past the second episode. It was still great, but it’s not the kind of show that can be rewatched unless you want to be permanently depressed. I really do wish I could go back and watch it for the first time just to appreciate the awesomeness of Carrie Coon again. Same thing for Regina King in the second season.

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  12. andcounting

    dmick89,

    It looks really good just seeing the cast. I think any show that goes past four seasons faces a Herculean task of maintaining any kind of consistency. I’m amazed anyone can do it well.

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  13. BVS

    WaLi,

    The Washington Post printed a recap of the finale which I enjoyed. Since the only episode I ever watched was while suffering from jet lag in a hotel in Seattle. I watched based in how much comment-space was dedicated to GoT here at OV back then. Must have been about 2011 or 12? Season 2 or 3. All I could figure was no one liked each other and no one ever bathed.

    I think GoT comments ran about equal in volume to Cubs comments that summer. Cubs comments were mostly about whether some dude who couldn’t top 91 was a good return for Dempster, homages to Kerry Wood on his retirement, and how much the team generally sucked.

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  14. dmick89

    andcounting: It looks really good just seeing the cast.

    I never read the book so I became convinced to watch it after I kept reading from a few critics I like how awesome it was. I think I started the show after the first 3 episodes. I usually only pay attention to what a few critics say because everyone has different tastes, but I figured if these people liked it then there was a good chance I would. I know some didn’t much like the first season and then loved it after that, but I think all 3 seasons are great. I had it as my favorite show every year it was on.

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  15. Author
    berselius

    EnricoPallazzo,

    Pat Rothfuss’s books are high on the list, but given how long it’s been since he published his last book it’s kind of going the way of Game of Thrones for me. Same with Scott Lynch’s Locke Lamora books. Mostly I’ve veered towards reading a lot more nonfiction.

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  16. Author
    berselius

    To-day’s base ball squadron

    LF War Bear
    3B Bryant
    1B Rizzo
    C Caratini
    RF Heyward
    CF Almora
    2B Descalso
    SS Russell
    P Darvish

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  17. Smokestack Lightning

    andcounting: That’s how I felt about Lost, and I like the finale more and more as time goes by.

    dmick89: Actually, I watched it within the last year for the first time and I absolutely loved the ending.

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  18. BVS

    I was hoping the GoT finale would go like this…

    Lots of dragons and killing, then…

    Cut to scene: In bed, Bob Newhart turns to Emily and says, remember the other morning when I told you about this really crazy dream I had? You’ll never believe this…

    Emily: I think we need the Dr to adjust your Lipitor.

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  19. Author
    berselius

    EnricoPallazzo,

    The Locke books also suffer from a long publication gap but the stakes are relatively lower so it doesn’t really bother me. The main characters are con men and each book is more or less a big caper.

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  20. Author
    berselius

    berselius,

    Other recs are books by Brent Weeks and NK Jemisin. I liked her award winning books okay but they never completely clicked with me, though friends of mine have them squarely at the top of their favorites lists.

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  21. cerulean

    10 pitches to get through one inning for Yu seems good. However, a 100 and then a 115(!!!) mph out — I would prefer less than 100 mph contact, thank you.

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  22. Smokestack Lightning

    BVS,

    It’s a truly incredible show. Especially for its era. Well worth the time to watch even now.

    But imo they didn’t stick the landing. Not even close.

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  23. dmick89

    Perkins,

    I have a better look from my couch on whether or not a player checked his swing than the umpire. They need to install some cameras or something and take it away from the base umpires. It’s 2019. There has to be a relatively simple way of using some tech to better call check swings.

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  24. GW

    For sci-fi, I recently enjoyed the three-body problem trilogy. It’s a chinese translation, so ymmv.

    For fantasy, in addition to those previously mentioned, Riyria Revelations is pretty good. The author finishes all his series before publishing any of the books, which alone is enough to sell me.

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  25. Author
    berselius

    GW,

    I picked up three body problem on a rec from a friend but haven’t read it yet. I consume most of my books on audio but given all the Chinese names and contextual footnotes this would be a tough one to do on audio.

    I also recently enjoyed Ancillary Justice, a sci-fi book that has more in the series that I’ll probably get to soon.

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  26. BVS

    Here’s a random comment, but for those of you cycle or care about people who do, check out this hack.

    Or don’t. I, of all people, cannot tell you what to do. I don’t bike, because I’m a typical baseball watching couch potato, but a good friend tells me it works.

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  27. andcounting

    dmick89,

    The rules defining what constitutes a swing need to be changed somehow to make it an easier, clearer call. It’s so vague as it stands. If any part of the bat enters the strike zone, it’s a swing. If you place your bat in the strike zone waiting to bunt then withdraw your bat, it’s still a strike. Then use tech to alert the home plate umpire when any part of the bat enters the zone. They make the call with a human common sense check against obvious flukes where no attempt whatsoever to swing was made.

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  28. URK

    andcounting:
    dmick89,

    The rules defining what constitutes a swing need to be changed somehow to make it an easier, clearer call. It’s so vague as it stands.If any part of the bat enters the strike zone, it’s a swing. If you place your bat in the strike zone waiting to bunt then withdraw your bat, it’s still a strike. Then use tech to alert the home plate umpire when any part of the bat enters the zone. They make the call with a human common sense check against obvious flukes where no attempt whatsoever to swing was made.

    andcounting,

    Which does a good job of preserving what’s actually valuable in the “human element’ and also of incorporating technology to correct what isn’t. Nice.

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  29. dmick89

    andcounting:
    dmick89,

    The rules defining what constitutes a swing need to be changed somehow to make it an easier, clearer call. It’s so vague as it stands.If any part of the bat enters the strike zone, it’s a swing. If you place your bat in the strike zone waiting to bunt then withdraw your bat, it’s still a strike. Then use tech to alert the home plate umpire when any part of the bat enters the zone. They make the call with a human common sense check against obvious flukes where no attempt whatsoever to swing was made.

    yeah, something like this is far better than the current system of having the base umpires guess whether or not the player checked his swing.

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