OSS: Monty and the bullpen combine to one-hit the Rays. Three up: Mike Montgomery was great today after his brief bullpen test, allowing just a solo home run over six inning while striking out six and issuing zero walks. Edwards, Strop, and Davis shut the door over the final three innings, striking out five Rays and not allowing anyone to …
Cubs 8, Cardinals 2; Cubs 4, Cardinals 1; Cubs 4, Cardinals 3
OSS: Cubs sweep the Cardinals to six back. Three up Jason Heyward had a big day at the plate, going 3-4 and posting a .316 WPA, by far the most on the team. The biggest hit was a go-ahead, two out single in the seventh inning what proved to be the decider (not in a presidential sense). Jose Quintana had …
Cubs 39, Mets 14 (9/12/2017 – 9/14/2017)
Cubs 14, Mets 6 (9/14/2017) Three Up 1. Anthony Rizzo leads baseball in WPA. Did you know that? Don't lie. You totally didn't. Seriously, admit it. You didn't know that. … … Why do you always do this? It's ok to admit when you don't know something. Nobody is going to think less of you if you don't know that …
Cubs 8, Mets 3 (9/13/2017)
OSS: Cubs finally score more runs than they allow. Three Up: 1. Kyle Schwarber went 3-3 with a HR and a walk. If only he stopped doing so much god damn charity work, he might have went 4 for 3, right Alvin? 2. Kris Bryant hit a 3-run bomb and silenced all of Cubs RISP Twitter. I get the impression …
Brewers 2, Cubs 0; Brewers 15, Cubs 2; Brewers 3, Cubs 1
What's next: The Cubs have an off day, then play what's left of the Mets.
Cubs 3, Pirates 4 (9/5/2017)
OSS: That fucking 8th inning. Three Up 1. Kyle Hendricks was pretty solid today. He didn't walk a single batter (only 2 strikeouts, so lots of balls in play). He made one bad mistake to David Freese, but allowed no other runs on the day. 2. Ian Happ had a 2-run single that would give the Cubs a 3-2 lead …
We have to talk about Dillon Maples
Baseball can be an exceedingly cruel game. The best hitters are defined as the ones that fail merely 60% of the time they come to the plate. Throwing the ball means always being a pitch away from the disabled list and an uncertain future. The path to success is littered with the failures of near-identical men and the smell of …
Cubs 17, Pirates 3
OSS: Cubs hit four homers and Javy steals home*. Three up: The Cubs blasted a bunch of homers to put this game out of reach, including two by Kyle Schwarber. But before then, they plated several runs on good baserunning. Javy Baez's steal of home, set up by a steal of second and a throwing error by Chris Stewart was …
Series Preview: Pittsburgh Pilates (63-68) at Chicago Cubs (69-60)
That joke in the title is a bit of a stretch. /dadjokes The Pirates have been a hot and cold team this year, but they've been cold lately. After climbing to 58-58, they've been 5-10 in their last 15 with many of those games being non-competitive. Furthermore, the Cubs miss both Cole and Taillon, instead getting the pitchers on the …
Series Preview: Chicago Cubs (68-58) at Philadelphia Phillies (46-80)
Finally free of the last of the anti-stat GMs, the Phillies set about to be the next big teardown and rebuild team. They had a promising season in 2016, as some of their young talent hit the bigs, and maybe things were starting to look 2014 Cubs-ish about them. In 2017, pretty much everyone not named Aaron Nola took a …