The Cubs defeated the Cardinals for (possibly) the final time in 2016, and it was a memorable night at Wrigley, for the Cubs, for Major League Baseball, and for one particular backup catcher. The joy on the North Side on Sunday night helped salve the acute melancholy of the day, as news of José Fernández’s death weighed on the hearts of all baseball fans who have watched the young righty’s unbounded exuberance for life and for the game. David Ross, the night’s hero, received the warmest of sendoffs in his final regular season home game, the 39-year-old’s successful tenure in the majors perhaps too potent a reminder of the years of life, and love for life, robbed of Fernández.
Top Play (WPA): With a tenuous one-run lead in the sixth, Lester took the mound to face the bottom of the Cardinals’ order. José Martinez singled to left to lead off the inning, and Carlos Martinez strode to the plate to bunt. He succeeded on the first pitch; a soft bunt, David Ross leaped forward to snare it before firing to second, attempting to force the lead runner. Addison Russell gloved it, stretching toward the center of the diamond to catch the ball, and slung the ball to first. The pitcher Martinez was safe at first, but the umpire initially called José Martinez out.
The visiting dugout jumped at the opportunity to request a replay review, and Martinez ended up, correctly, called safe (-.092). With the top of the order, in the form of Matt Carpenter, up, it was a scary situation for the theretofore cruising Lester. Lester’s first pitch to Carpenter found the Cardinal’s bat, though, via a check swing, and the ball trickled toward Javier Baez at third. Baez fielded it, threw across his body to Ben Zobrist at second, and Zobrist turned the double play (+.171). Another grounder to Baez ended the inning, and the Cardinals’ best threat against the dominant lefty.
Bottom Play: Following a pair of doubles in the sixth by Zobrist and Russell, the latter the result of a replay review (the ball hit the chalk, and Russell was granted second; Zobrist, home), the Cubs clung to a 2-0 lead. In the eighth, Justin Grimm relieved Carl Edwards, Jr., following a leadoff walk to José Martinez. Grimm struck out Matt Adams, but Matt Carpenter sharply singled to right, and Martinez took third. Stephen Piscotty struck out to nudge Grimm close to an escape, but a full count to Jhonny Peralta proved pivotal. Peralta dumped a soft single into center, scoring Martinez (-.116), and Carpenter advanced to third. Grimm managed to slip the binds of the inning, though, by getting Brandon Moss to fly out, deeply, to center (+.120).
Key Moment: The man who granted Lester the lead snags the game’s key moment. The Wrigley faithful bestowed David Ross with a gaggle of standing ovations, and he made one of them count. In Ross’s second at-bat, in the fifth, the wizened catcher jumped on a 1-0 Martinez offering, depositing it deep into the left-center bleachers and giving the Cubs a lead.
The tenor of the game, already pitched high due to Ross, jumped up a note and resounded at a full forte. Ross trotted around the bases, the Wrigley crowd reigned cheers upon him, the PA blasted “Forever Young,” and Ross’s teammates offered the catcher high fives and hugs. Ross popped out of the dugout to the sustained applause and doffed his helmet, a curtain call on 2016’s #YearLongRetirementParty, and a fine career.
Trend to Watch: The game’s other key moment—a tense top of the seventh, as the Cardinals again put two runners on—gave way to a trend to watch going into the playoffs. Lester, coddling a shutout into the inning, struck out Jhonny Peralta to start the inning, and induced a drowsy, drooping liner to center off the bat of Brandon Moss for the second out. A Yadier Molina single and Jedd Gyorko walk embroiled Lester in some trouble, and Joe Maddon eventually requested the ball from Lester, in favor of Carl Edwards, Jr.
Edwards dialed up his fastball top 96, throwing to substitute catcher Willson Contreras. Contreras entered the game following David Ross’s ceremonial exit, a figurative changing of the guard. Contreras’s contributions will be vital to the Cubs’ postseason success, with both his bat and his glove. He’s all but guaranteed to get a start behind the plate in the division series, and probably one in left as well. Edwards, for his part, will also figure largely: he and Pedro Strop will be the middle relievers that give the Cubs greater bullpen depth than many of their competitors.
After a poor beginning to September, Ben Zobrist appears to be awakening from a brief hitting slumber (lumber slumber…?). Zobrist is the type of hitter whose profile is that of a good playoff hitter: high contact, great eye, no fear in the face of an ace. Zobrist’s three hits on the night, with his performances from the last three games, might spur him onto postseason success.
Coming Next: Cy Young-hopeful Kyle Hendricks (3.50 DRA, 2.06 ERA) faces the stoic Chad Kuhl (5.08 DRA, 3.73 ERA) in Monday night’s 7:05 CDT game at PNC Park. The local TV broadcast is on Comcast, the radio call at 670 WSCR.
Lead photo courtesy Dennis Wierzbicki—USA Today Sports