OSS: Cubs rack up Cole’s pitch count for the second game in a row and chase him early.
Three up:
- Anthony Rizzo paced the Cubs in WPA on the day, mostly due to a game tying double in the third inning and another in the fifth. It is great to see the hits dropping for him again.
- David Ross had the other big day at the plate, hitting an RBI single in the fifth to score two runs and combining with Javy Baez for a crazy caught stealing in the sixth (I assume – I had turned off the game by this point).
- It’s not the greatest stat-line, but I’m okay with Hammel’s performance on a night where the home plate umpire’s strike zone resembled swiss cheese.
Three down:
- Despite winning by five runs, the Cubs could have blown this open even further. They had base runners against Cole in every inning, and 11 of the bottom 13 WPA plays were all made by Cubs batters. That’s the nice thing about having such great OBP, eventually someone has to get in.
- Matt Sczcur left the game with a tight hamstring. Hopefully not a huge deal, but things are a little thin with Heyward banged up as well.
- Things may or may not have gotten chippy late in the game after Zobrist was drilled following a Hammel HBP of Marte. Joe Maddon was not happy, and there’s probably lingering bitterness over the wild card game. Somehow I don’t think we see a beanball war start with Arrieta on the mound tomorrow though.