Game 19 Recap: Cubs 6 Pirates 2

Photo courtesy of Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports

Top Play (WPA): With runners on second and third and two out in the bottom of the second, Dexter Fowler singled on a grounder through the infield, scoring Junior Lake and Addison Russell (.162). Corey Hart’s throwing error would allow Fowler to advance to third and Russell to score on the play. Fowler got on base four times on the evening and is sporting a strong .366 on-base percentage in the lead-off spot. The other major play was one that set up the aforementioned hit by Fowler. With two outs and runners on the corners, Russell doubled on a hard liner (.125) to drive in Starlin Castro.

Bottom Play (WPA): Travis Wood struck out swinging against Jeff Locke with runners on first and third and one out in the bottom of the second (-.073). This definitely decreased the odds of the previously described “Top Play” of happening. The second-lowest play was also in the fateful second inning. The same situation applied here, except that Welington Castillo came up with no outs instead of one. He faced the wrath of BABIP, as he lined out to second to record the inning’s first out (-.064).

Key Moment: There weren’t many crucial moments in this game as the Cubs once again beat the Pirates in fairly straightforward fashion. While not a moment in the traditional sense, Wood getting through the first two innings cleanly with only 22 pitches was absolutely critical. Wood is a finesse lefty who largely relies on the location of his pitches to keep hitters at bay and a rough start to the game for him often indicates that he is not going to be sharp throughout. When Wood can put away batters with this few pitches early in the game, it allows him to settle into a groove. All of this is, of course, fairly abstract, but is nevertheless still quite important with regards to Wood’s performance in this game.

Wood, who is hardly known for racking up the strikeout, whiffed nine Pirates on the night and bumped his strikeout rate to 27.7 percent on the season. If he can continue to pick up the strikeouts, he’ll only increase the chances of putting a rough 2014 in his rearview as he attempts to recreate, and possibly improve upon, his breakout 2013 season.

Trend to Watch: It’s only two games, of course, but the Cubs have scored all 10 runs in this series with two outs. These last two nights are not the only times the Cubs have rallied to score with two outs, but it’s still not expected in this volume. It should go without saying that any two-out situation is one in which the hitting team is unlikely to score. The Cubs have seemed to do it with ease these last two nights, which is exciting for a variety of reasons. These Cubs clearly take a very patient approach and that gives them a chance to get runners on no matter what the context. Also, the aggressive baserunning approach that Maddon has employed thus far (24 steals already) makes it possible for runners to advance and set up better opportunities to score. It’s something to certainly keep an eye on as we move forward.

Coming Next: The Cubs (12-7) will look to get the sweep against the division rival Pirates (11-10) and to possibly gain a share of first place, depending on what the Cardinals do against the Phillies. Kyle Hendricks (5.74 ERA, 3.27 FIP, 13 K/BB) will take the mound for the Cubs, taking on the Pirates talented young ace, Gerrit Cole (2.19 ERA, 2.27 FIP, 3.86 K/BB).