Top Play (WPA): The Cubs and Indians went into a rain delay with two outs in the top of the fifth inning and the score tied at three apiece. The Cubs had the bases loaded, and looked as though they might be ready to break through on starting pitcher Danny Salazar. When play resumed, however, Salazar was out of the game and Cody Allen took over for the Indians. He worked his way out of it, and the score continued to be tied into the seventh inning.
After working two scoreless frames, Travis Wood came out for the bottom of the seventh and proceeded to strike out Brandon Moss. However, Yan Gomes hit a single to left field and Michael Bourn hit a single to center field that drove Wood from the game. Joe Maddon went with Justin Grimm against Giovanny Urshela, and Grimm wasn’t able to get it done. Urshela lined one into left-center, scoring Gomes on a relatively close play at the plate (.188).
The Cubs never would push across another run, and the single by Urshela would end up being the game-winner in the 4-3 Indians victory.
Bottom Play (WPA): The Cubs did have their chances to tie up the ballgame. Zach McAllister came on for the Indians to pitch in the top of the seventh and got things started off right, striking out Addison Russell, Dexter Fowler, and Anthony Rizzo. He came back out in the eighth and got Kris Bryant looking, as well. McAllister then would walk Miguel Montero and plunk Starlin Castro, moving the tying run to second base with just one out, but check out his method for working the Cubs hitters.
McAllister was routinely starting guys off with pitches in the zone, but moved up higher and higher out of the zone as the at-bats progressed. He threw almost exclusively fastballs, which maxed out at a steamy 98.1 mph, with just one curveball mixed in as well. To say the least, McAllister was just an unfair matchup for the Cubs last night.
David Ross came in as a pinch-hitter for Chris Coghlan when the Indians went to their left-handed specialist, Marc Rzepczynski. But Rzepczynski struck out Ross, leaving things up to Chris Denorfia. The Indians brought in Bryan Shaw, and Maddon countered by pinch-hitting Mike Baxter for Denorfia. Shaw got Baxter to roll one slowly to the second baseman Jason Kipnis, who tossed over to the shortstop Francisco Lindor for the force out at second (-.102), and ended the inning with two runners stranded.
Shaw continued in the ninth inning for the Indians, and he finished it off without allowing any baserunners.
Key Moment: The only reason this game was interesting from a Cubs standpoint was because of Kyle Schwarber. Schwarber hit a single in his first at-bat and scored on a single by Dexter Fowler, with the help of yet another error by the Indians slick-fielding Lindor. The Indians still held the lead at 3-1 when the rain started to come down in the fifth, but they had to face Schwarber with one out and Coghlan standing on first base.
Salazar got Schwarber in the early hole, down 0-2. But the husky DH put his patience and batting eye on display, taking the next three pitches for balls and running the count to 3-2. The sixth pitch of the at-bat was in low-and-away portion of the strike zone, but Schwarber swatted it to the opposite field and over the high wall in left for his first big-league homer. More importantly, it tied the ballgame before the heavy rain hit.
Schwarber finished the game with two hits in four plate appearances, and has a 374 wRC+ and .725 wOBA in his small sample size of 10 total plate appearances. The 22-year-old still needs to go back to Triple-A to work on his craft behind the plate, regardless of the stats he may put up in the next few games. But it’s entirely possible he returns to help with a playoff push late in the season, and this has been a fun treat to get a glimpse of what is to come.
Trend to Watch: Travis Wood may have allowed the baserunner that eventually came around to score the winning run in this game, but he’s been very good out of the bullpen lately. After getting through his first two innings against the Indians, Wood had allowed just two hits and zero walks while striking out six batters in his last 8.1 innings pitched. Overall, since moving to the bullpen on May 16, Wood has pitched 13 innings and allowed only eight hits and three earned runs while striking out 13 batters.
It’s a small sample size for a guy who’s had trouble getting outs for over a year, but I think there is some substance behind it. It’s not totally unexpected that a guy’s fastball would gain a bit of velocity in the bullpen, but there are a few things to note about Wood’s velocity changes among his pitches.
His changeup actually is about 0.6 mph slower on average. This is only somewhat notable, considering that he’s been throwing primarily the fastball and the cutter since his move to the pen. The fastball and the cutter have both risen in velocity by about two mph each, and that’s more notable in conjunction with the changes in usage.
His use of the sinker has dropped considerably, and that is a big part of explaining his success. I believe that his cutter was his best pitch in 2013, when he was an All-Star, averaging over 88 mph in his best months. He’s back averaging 88 mph on his cutter since the move to the pen after sitting around 86 mph since the beginning of last season. The rise in velocity and use of his cutter, as well as his fastball, is what I believe has turned Wood into a reliable reliever.
Coming Next: The Cubs (35-29) continue their American League tour with a three-game set against the Minnesota Twins (36-30) at Target Field in Minneapolis. Friday’s game starts at 7:10pm, and the Cubs will send Kyle Hendricks to the mound against Phil Hughes.
Hendricks has been very good lately, posting a 2.25 ERA in his last five starts while striking out 29 batters in 32 innings. His season stats are fairly good, considering what you’d expect out of a 25-year-old starting pitcher in his first full season in the major leagues. He’s put up a very respectable 3.80 ERA/3.45 FIP/4.35 DRA in his 12 starts.
Phil Hughes has been an enigma wrapped in a mystery, when comparing his 2014 season to his start this year. Last year he struck out 186 batters in 209 2/3 innings, good for an 8.0 K/9 rate. But this year, his rate has fallen to just 5.6 K/9, while he’s allowed a major-league leading 102 hits in just 82.2 innings. He has only walked nine batters, however, so the Cubs might be wise to take some early hacks against Hughes.
Lead photo courtesy of Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports