One of the biggest bangers from global resident and Miami-native Pitbull is “Don’t Stop the Party.” For 17 innings the Chicago Cubs and Miami Marlins took that never say stop attitude onto the field and into the late Miami night.
What You Need To Know: After a strong offensive performance on Opening Day, the Cubs bats fell dormant for game two. The Cubs took the lead in the third inning with a Kris Bryant solo home run. But the lead was short lived, when in the bottom of the third the Marlins leveled the score.
From that point on, each team struggled to score, even though at several points each team looked poised to take the lead. But that did not happen until the 17th inning when Miguel Rojas’ base hit drove Brian Anderson home to give the Marlins the 2-1 victory.
Next Level: After the disappointing loss the Cubs can take some solace from two outstanding pitching performances.
Kyle Hedricks on Friday night took his patented no thrills approach to the mound against the Marlins. For six innings we saw exactly what we have now come to expect from The Professor. His sinker-changeup combination got the job done against the Marlins lineup.
The Cubs will hope these will be the type of performances they will see from Hendricks every fifth game.
The performance of the night undoubtedly, though was from Eddie Butler. Prior to tonigh,t the former starter had not pitched more than six innings in a game; tonight he went 7 innings. His outing was more than just a reliever preventing the Cubs from overtaxing an already overworked bullpen, and he showed the potential of becoming a pitcher who is capable of handling high leverage situations.
After two games, it is rare to start wondering about some roster moves. But after 16 innings of relief pitching, it is not absurd to consider bringing in a fresh arm or two.
Scoring one run after 17 innings of baseball understandable leads to questions, but it is still not cause for concern. Two scoring opportunities for the Cubs came in the sixth and ninth, but both came with two outs in the innings and the Cubs weren’t able to convert
Ben Zobrist looked great at the plate going 3-for-7, with two of his at bats ending in flyouts on balls that could have been home runs had he not just got under it a tiny bit.
While not getting great results tonight, the 64 plate appearances from the offense will help them get into the groove of regular season play.
Top WPA Play: After two bad ball four calls in the eighth, Carl Edwards Jr. was facing Chad Wallach with the bases loaded. Edwards Jr. came up clutch, and got the inning ending strikeout. Fistpumps all around. (+.133)
Bottom WPA Play: Jason Heyward’s line drive straight to first baseman Derek Dietrich with the bases loaded in the 15th inning, which led to an inning ending double play. (-.351)
Lead photo courtesy Steve Mitchell—USA Today Sports
Stupid is the word for it. Cubs are destined for first, Marlin’s for last. We lost in playoffs because oof rubber armed bullpen. Just lose it in the tenth and move on