Did The Cubs Win? OSS: Hammel outduels Tanaka, and Lou Goodvalue gives Masahiro fits. Three Up 1. Luis Valbuena doubled twice and singled once. On the season, he’s .261/.384/.434. Last year, he was .218/.331/.378 on a .233 BABIP, so we should have seen this coming. It’s insane to me that Valbuena isn’t considered a long-term solution at 2B or 3B; …
Cubes 2, Barves 5 (5/12/14)
Did The Cubs Win? OSS: Cubes strikeout 14 times, and put Russell into the game. Three Up 1. Starlin Castro went 2-4 with a double and a strikeout. 2. Nate Schierholtz walked and doubled in 2 runs. 3. Anthony Rizzo is good, even when he isn’t that good. He went 1-3 with a walk, but still saw 23 pitches, which …
Cubs 9, Reds 4 (5/1/14)
Did The Cubs Win? OSS: A to the Rizzo dominates Cingrani/Christiani, and Cubs tee off on fastball guys. Three Up 1. Couldn’t be anyone but Rizzo, who walked 4 times and hit a 2-run homer in the 1st inning. His WPA for yesterday’s game was a stout .298. 2. Starlin Castro had almost as good of a game. He went …
Cubs 9, Diamondbacks 2 (4/22/14)
(A note for the reader: I’m home today with a sick little one. She’s asleep, so I’m writing this while watching Season 3: Episode 6 of Breaking Bad (titled: Sunset). There will be spoilers if you haven’t gotten this far). OSS: Hammel dominated, and Olt finally had a no-doubt home run. BBA: I like Walter’s new partner, but really what …
Cubs 2, Reds 8 (4/20/14)
OSS: Carl Newhouse isn’t a very good pitcher, and the Cubs as a collective aren’t a very good hitter. Three Up 1. Anthony Rizzo went 2-3 with 2 walks. It’s hard to ask for a lot more than that. 2. Emilio Bonifacio went 2-4 with a walk and a double. He also stole a base and was caught stealing. Bonifacio …
Cubs 4, Cardinals 6 (4/14/14)
OSS: Edwin Jackson dodges the first bullet and gets hit by the second. Three Up 1. Junior Lake, sure. He went 2-4 with a triple. Pretty cool. 2. Mike Olt, why not. 2-3, with a double and an RBI. 3. Anthony Rizzo hit a home run! It was fun, because we had a lead before Grim Death took hold of …
Ten Reasons I’m Watching The 2014 Cubs
The last time I posted here, the dinosaurs roamed the earth the Cubs were still in the hunt for the NL pennant I swore I didn’t care about the 2014 Cubs. I said there would be no reason to watch the 2014 Cubs. I pretty much made it clear I wouldn’t so much as accidentally watch 10 seconds of the 2014 …
Cubs 7, Pirates 5 (4/9/14)
OSS: Twin Towers Topple Tons of Tiny Traducer Taters Three Five Up 1. Junior Lake wanted more playing time. After a conservatively-estimated 800-foot blast onto whatever street comes after Waveland, he just might get it. Sure, he didn’t have the most totally productive day, but if you hit a ball as far as Lake did, it’s easy to be wooed. 2. …
Cubs 7, Pirates 8 (4/8/14)
OSS: Despite a heroic performance by Starlin Castro, the Cubs give a winnable game to the Pirates (again). Three Up 1. How could it not be Starlin Castro? A three-run dinger in the 3rd tied it up, and a and a 6th-inning dinger brought the Cubs within 1. All told, Castro went 3-4, 4 RBI, 2 R. It was his …
Journeymen of Tomorrow: 4/1/14
Did the Cubs Win? (image c/o bleacher nation) Chicago Cubes 0 @ Pittsburgh Pirates 1 One Sentence Synopsis: Cubes gonna Cube, Bonifacio going to TOOTBLAN, and Cubs go 0 for 11 with RISP. Three Up 1. Jeff Samardzija was very good, going 7 scoreless frames. He walked 2 and allowed 5 hits, but only fanned 3. He was bailed out by …