Three Six up (it's the playoffs!)
1. This Jake Arrieta guy might be pretty good. A complete game shutout with 11 strikeouts, and he didn't even seem to have his best stuff tonight. I don't know what else there is to say. Him stealing second base immediately after that altercation was the icing on the cake for this game.
2-3. Kyle Schwarber and Dexter Fowler were all the offense the Cubs needed tonight, hitting two homers and either scoring or knocking in all four runs. Schwarber's homer in particular is now entering low earth orbit.
4. I think my favorite part of this game (aside from the whole Cubs winning thing) was the littlest Pirates fan behind the plate. I'm not sure if he was there earlier in the game, but for the last two innings or you could see him pitching and swinging along with all the Pirates players.
5-6. Kris Bryant and Addison Russell
They may have had a rough day at the plate and on the basepaths, but it was Bryant's and Russell's gloves that sealed the deal tonight. Bryant moved to third after the Cubs started subbing in their better OF defenders and got plenty of work, including a much tougher than it looked double play off the bat of Aramis Ramirez and snagging a couple of lasers while playing relatively shallow at 3b.
Russell meanwhile bounced back on the very next play following a bases-loading error to turn two on another tough ball to get the Cubs out of the sixth.
Three six down
1. Speaking of Bryant on the basepaths, he racked up an impressive TOOTBLAN to end the third inning. I think Mercer suckered him on how he went after the ball, but it was one of those infield fly-ish plays where you're pretty much screwed either way.
2. It looked like it might start falling apart for the Cubs in the sixth after Russell was charged with an error on a tough grounder from Cutch, loading the bases with one out for Pittsburgh. Luckily he was able to rectify things on the very next play.
3. I get why the Pirates are frustrated, but that was some bush league shit by Watson and especially Sean Rodriguez. Funny that the team full of rookies was the one who acts like they've been there before. Both of those HBP by Arrieta were clearly accidents, and Cervelli especially milked his for all it was worth.
4. The home plate umpire had a fucking gigantic zone for most of this game, and while I was more than happy to see Arrieta take advantage of it that shit drives me nuts. Not quite as nuts as when the zone suddenly shrank when Arrieta got a little shaky later in the game, though.
5. I would have loved to see Rondon out there in the ninth, if only because they're likely going to have to lean on Arrieta a lot for hopefully several more starts, possibly on short rest. I get the vibe he's pretty much in the Bumgarner Zone at this point though.
6. I'm sad that this is the end of the line for Aramis Ramirez. He's waited just as long as the rest of us to get another postseason win. If the Cubs had lost (and without that bullshit Arrieta plunking) I would have rooted for the Pirates to go all the way for his sake.
11 more wins to go.
Ramirez’s career batting line, over 18 seasons: .283/.341/.492
berseliusQuote Reply
Don’t be sad for A-Ram. He really doesn’t want to play anymore. Sad for us, because his retirement makes us all feel old(er), but not for him.
I think following the the whole bench clearing incident, it became Jake’s game to finish. He was a lot more emotional than usual, although still contained, and then when he stole that base it was obvious that Arrieta was the Pirates’ bête noire and would haunt and eviscerate them to the end. It was like that one CG SO he threw recently (which I think also might have been 4-0), where Joe wanted him to have the feeling of finishing it off and being out there for that in the 9th. I also see the logic in leaving your best pitcher in as long he can go in an elimination game. You’re not in bullet-saving mode at that point.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
Sean Rodriguez: “I was frustrated because a guy grabbed me by the throat and I couldn’t do anything about it, I couldn’t even get a hit off because my teammates were holding me back.”
Who grabbed you by the throat?
“Ross. David Ross.”
Suburban kidQuote Reply
I didn’t agree with the decision last night, but after thinking about it awhile, I think this is right. He hadn’t thrown all that many pitches yet.
dmick89Quote Reply
Ross admitted the choking thing, though it was accidental he said. I loved how Maddon resoonded in the post game with the early question about the dugout clearing incident.
dmick89Quote Reply
I think I’m now officially past the the “House money/ahead of schedule” thing. I want the World Series this year. Jake is having too special of a season.
MillertimeQuote Reply
Millertime,
Might as well win it all, now that the Cubs are past the coin-flip game.
WaLiQuote Reply
Millertime,
WaLi,
LSA +1 Rec’d Turnitgreen!!!
Suburban kidQuote Reply
If they are not going to disappoint us, they might as well not disappoint us all the way. It’s the only polite thing to do.
ceruleanQuote Reply
The polite thing to do would be to win at least 5 of them in a row.
dmick89Quote Reply
Ramirez’s career began in Pittsburgh and then was in Milwaukee and then finished in Pittsburgh.
dmick89Quote Reply
Not sure if this will work:
dmick89Quote Reply
Bryant’s play here is great, but even better is Castro. He played that so calmly and avoided the take-out.
dmick89Quote Reply
I kind of hope the Cubs just win every game like this. By enough that you never feel that dread creep in.
joshQuote Reply
Someone searched for “cubs are the jabronis of baseball” and came here yesterday. (dying laughing)
dmick89Quote Reply
josh,
Russell’s error on an inning-ending double play allowed some dread to creep in for me yesterday.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
Bryant looks like he’s laughing when he snags that ball. Castro looks disinterested in the most badass way.
ceruleanQuote Reply
dmick89,
Sometimes I clear my webrowser history, and need to find this place again.
MillertimeQuote Reply
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=27638
dmick89Quote Reply
That’s what bookmarks are for. We even have a fancy little OS X/iOS bookmark icon showing off Adam’s facepalm image. Or you can search for Cubs and jabronis. Either is acceptable.
dmick89Quote Reply
What the fuck was that?
Suburban kidQuote Reply
Yep, Bryant always seems to smile when making awesome plays. It reminds me of the guitar player Billy Zoom of the band X, who always used to grin when playing fast and/or hard stuff.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
Anyone else get Starlin-specific chills on the final out? So awesome for him to be in the playoffs finally after all he’s been through.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
Coghlan still SOL tomorrow you think?
Suburban kidQuote Reply
I prefer “pizza MILF” but I’m old school
Wenningtons Gorilla CockQuote Reply
Suburban kid,
Let me field that one SK. With Ross in for Montero, I expect Joe might look for Cogs to replace that pop instead of going with the most underrated hitter on the team.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
Heh. My “cubs jabronis” google search revealed the fact that there is a web site called http://www.phillysportsjabronis.com
Suburban kidQuote Reply
Baseball and music are both supposed to be fun, right?
uncle daveQuote Reply
His turn was so fast on that one. He’s just locked in right now.
uncle daveQuote Reply
WEAREGOODWEAREGOODWEAREGOODWEAREGOOD
WaLiQuote Reply
I don’t know. I don’t think I’d ever read anything by that guy. Not sure I’ll read anything again either. I actually read the whole thing though.
dmick89Quote Reply
I wonder if he’s a bit relieved that he’s not playing SS. I do think he had improved defensively at the position, but there’s a lot more pressure on him there to do things he may not have been capable of doing. He probably wasn’t capable of doing them and maybe not spending so much time working on defense has been a big benefit to him. I know it’s only been a month so it’s a small sample and all that, but he looks like a different and much better ballplayer.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
I think you meant to say “I read every word”
berseliusQuote Reply
WaLi,
(dying laughing)
uncle daveQuote Reply
I was looking through some old articles on Aramis Ramirez and found this image in the comments (posted by SK, he
seems tono longer likes when dudes dress up as chicks). Figured since we just saw this a week or so ago that I'd post it here again. It's from 2010.dmick89Quote Reply
That would be a horrible job to interview people when they’re spraying wine everywhere possible.
dmick89Quote Reply
Correct.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
Could be. I can certainly imagine how difficult it might have been as the face of the franchise during a shitty stretch like 2010-14.
uncle daveQuote Reply
uncle dave,
Not only that, but I also think spending time working on defense is probably less fun when you’re not naturally gifted at it like an Addison Russell is. Baseball just might be more fun for Castro right now because he doesn’t have to do that shit he’s not as good at. I don’t know. Just a thought.
dmick89Quote Reply
so am i the only one that like that article? it was super random but i thought it was good.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
I just couldn’t get past the first paragraph. Maybe it got better after that?
Suburban kidQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
It was good enough for me to read every word, but pointless enough for me to not to want to read much from him in the future. It was ok. It was an interesting and true angle to take.
dmick89Quote Reply
I do?
Suburban kidQuote Reply
Yeah- totally. It was a nice catch too. Also, when Russell booted that ground ball in the 6th, I thought it was Castro at first, and I totally cringed. Still glad it wasn’t.
UrkQuote Reply
I think you were the one who shared the images of the hazing each of the last year or two, weren’t you? Anyway, I was just joking. You shared it on the article I was reading through and I thought I’d re-post since it had Castro in it.
dmick89Quote Reply
Fortunately, it’s only champagne.
ceruleanQuote Reply
sigh
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
Not as much as I get Rizzo-specific pumped when he completes the catch on the bases-loaded DP and punches the air in one powerful continuous motion.
ceruleanQuote Reply
I don’t think it was me posting the dude/chick pics this year, because I recall being surprised and disappointed when I first saw those Bryant/Schwarber pics. I’m sure I did it that one time, but nowadays I’m thinking hazing is dumb and that overrides any comedy factor.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
cerulean,
It was Budweiser I think, which is the equivalent champagne for St. Louis folk. I think they were mocking St. Louis by pouring it all out “YOU GUYS ACTUALLY LIKE THIS SHIT??? AHHAHA WATCH US POUR IT OUT AS WE CELEBRATE GETTING TO FACE YOUR SORRY ASSES. WEAREGOODWEAREGOODWEAREGOODWEAREGOOD.”
WaLiQuote Reply
WaLiQuote Reply
WaLi,
That’s not an image I’d want in my family album.
dmick89Quote Reply
That’s what I meant. I just made a short grocery list and I had to get a couple bottles of wine for some food I’m making this weekend. So I had wine on my mind when I was writing that. (dying laughing)
dmick89Quote Reply
You are correct. It was 424. My bad.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
Since you won’t be having dinner, I’ll have that wine.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
I like how Maddon hasn’t firmly set Jason Hammel for Game 4 saying that if they need him earlier than that, they’ll use him and make an adjustment for Game 4. I’d assume Jon Lester would be an option on short rest that game.
dmick89Quote Reply
http://fivethirtyeight.com/live-blog/chicago-cubs-pittsburgh-pirates-nl-wild-card/
dmick89Quote Reply
Looks like Vin Scully is out for the postseason. I hope it’s not too serious.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
dmick89,
Enjoyed it. I’m biased, though, because I love his work on the bp podcast.
GWQuote Reply
Guys the Cubs just signed Eddy Julio Martinez.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
Where’s that “like” button when you need it?
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
Sweet.
New shit. http://obstructedview.net/minor-leagues/cubs-sign-eddy-julio-martinez/
dmick89Quote Reply