Top Play (WPA): Per “rare Cubs occurrence” sage Christopher Kamka, the last three players Cubs prior to this game who had homered twice in the ninth or later were Ryne Sandberg in The Sandberg Game, Andre Dawson, and Sammy Sosa.
Well, let this be The Schwarber Game. Having already launched a moon shot, game-tying home run in the ninth that came dangerously close to leaving Great American Ballpark (.370), in the 13th Schwarber swatted a 2-2 slider from Nate Adcock into the right-field bleachers, giving the Cubs a 5-4 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish in the bottom half of the inning.
The Hoosier alumnus had the three top plays by WPA on the night: his fifth inning double cut the Reds’ win expectancy from 72.6 percent to 52.1 percent (.206). Oh, and just for fun…
Bottom Play (WPA): Really, I should just direct you back to watching Schwarber make mincemeat of big-league pitching. This game was too damn fun to dwell on Taylor Teagarden’s abysmal 11th inning showing against Dylan Axelrod. The Cubs’ current third-string catcher flailed at three straight pitches from the Reds’ righty, ending the Cubs’ bases loaded threat (-.160).
Key Moment: Not letting Billy Hamilton score. Bryan Price inserted the speedster via double-switch, and the thorn in the Cubs’ side managed two hits in three plate appearances. In the ninth, Hamilton laced a grounder towards the middle, Starlin Castro ranged to his left, fielded the ball cleanly, and made an incredibly swift throw to first, just barely missing Hamilton (.053). Castro had a very nice game defensively, and hit the ball hard several times, a sign of life for the much maligned shortstop.
But back to Hamilton. After a couple of close pickoff throws from Hector Rondon (who pitched two impressive scoreless innings), Hamilton managed to find himself on second due to a Rondon balk, the pitcher having not come set (.064). Rondon induced a key grounder to short from Brandon Phillips, holding Hamilton to second, and struck out Marlon Byrd to end the inning (-.086 and -.098, respectively).
Hamilton singled again in the 11th, but Jason Motte closed out the inning with a flyout.
Trend to Watch: Why not that 22-year-old catcher? Until Schwarber decided to take the game into his own hands, there was little of note occurring in the game. Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant have been “slumping,” so the emergence of Schwarber as an offensive force is well-timed. He’s only played 11 games, so I won’t bother much with date or heat maps (he’s basically crushing the ball), but this offense needs some more Schwarbombs if it’s gonna wake from its deep slumber.
Coming Next: Another twin bill! After about one whole minute of #WeirdBaseball, the Cubs and Reds have to turn around and play an 11:35 CDT game, followed by a 5:10 night cap. Kyle Hendricks goes for the Cubs in the morning game (4.02 DRA/97 cFIP/3.44 ERA) against the possible soon-to-be ex-Red Mike Leake (3.69/106/3.95). In the evening game, it’s Dallas Beeler, who threw five innings of two-run ball in the previous doubleheader, facing off with Tony Cingrani (4.18/96/3.47). Expect some weird lineups and careful bullpen usage after this 13 inning affair. Oh, and make sure to celebrate Schwarber’s two bombs. You deserve it.
Lead photo courtesy of Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
This Game makes me super happy I am a fan in this era, because Cubs twitter is a blast during nights like this. Here’s hoping there is way more wins, Schwarbombs, and #WeirdBaseball in our future.