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Game 48 Recap: Cubs 7 Phillies 2

This game–and this whole series, really–went about as expected, given what we think we know about the Phillies and Cubs. The former were projected to be quite bad, and while they’ve won more than half their games thus far, they’re still bad. The latter were projected to be quite good, and they’ve been very, very good. Still, the Cubs have hit some turbulence in the last couple weeks, so a nice clean sweep was a welcome sight.

Top Play (WPA): The Cubs entered the third inning already with a 2-0 lead thanks to singles from Fowler, Heyward, and Rizzo in the first, and a solo shot from Montero in the second. The offense felt inexorable and unstoppable, as it tends to when this team is doing well, and a single from Bryant and yet another walk from Rizzo brought the seemingly-immortal Ben Zobrist to the plate. Vince Velazquez snuck one changeup by him for a strike, but Zobrist pulled the next one to right field, a low liner that barely had enough height to make the basket (+0.162). The Cubs went up 5-0, and never looked back.

Bottom Play (WPA): It’s a great sign when you can barely remember what the bottom play even was. In the first, after those Fowler, Heyward, and Rizzo singles, Zobrist got his first attempt with runners in scoring position, but instead of converting, he hit into a double play, and ended the inning (-0.073). We know he would make up for that later, though, so he definitely gets a pass for this one.

Key Moment: John Lackey put in a serviceable, if unexciting, outing, with six strikeouts, four walks and one run on a Tyler Goeddel solo shot over seven innings of work. He pitched around trouble (and got somewhat lucky with the sequencing of plays) in the fourth, where a leadoff double and a walk were neutralized by a double play, and in the fifth, where two singles, a walk, and a wild pitch didn’t get the Phillies anything, with no baserunners even reaching third. Again, this game never really felt in doubt, but it could’ve been a whole lot closer had those hits been clustered together, or had Tommy Joseph and Goeddel not hit into conveniently timed double plays. When a team with as much talent as the Cubs is also getting lucky, they’re not going to lose very many games, as we saw today.

Trend to Watch: Miguel Montero had a good day, going 2-for-3 with a walk, single, and the aforementioned home run. He’s scuffled somewhat since his return from the DL, mostly due to a lack of power; his .387 OBP in those nine games is a welcome sight, but his .292 SLG is not pretty at all. Hopefully Sunday was a sign of things to come for him.

It’s less a trend at this point than it is a given, but I feel I’d be remiss not to mention the continued wonder of the Ben Zobrist experience. His home run today brought his season line to .351/.451/.542, the kind of line that any player should be happy with. When it’s a player that brings as much defensive value and versatility as Zobrist does, it’s even better, and it’s been extremely fun to watch him make Theo Epstein look very smart for signing him.

Up Next: The Cubs welcome the other team many projection systems thought could vie with Chicago for the top of the NL in the Los Angeles Dodgers. Memorial Day will feature a 12:05 CT matinee between Alex Wood and Jason Hammel. The Cubs will miss Clayton Kershaw, which might be for the best. The Dodgers haven’t started the season the way they would like, but they’re a deep and powerful team, much like the Cubs, and this should be a great series.

Lead photo courtesy Matt Marton—USA Today Sports.

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1 comment on “Game 48 Recap: Cubs 7 Phillies 2”

Rob

Just an FYI Monday’s game is at 4:05 #annoyingcomment

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