Call it the Cahill and Montgomery game.
Top Play (WPA): The Cubs were already leading the Brewers 1-0 when starter Matt Garza walked Dexter Fowler leading off the third inning. After a Kris Bryant pop out for the first out, a single by Anthony Rizzo put two on with just one out. Ben Zobrist hit a slow chopper to second baseman Scooter Gennett, who got Rizzo heading to second but was unable to turn it into an inning-ending double-play. The next batter was Addison Russell, who was standing at the plate when Garza uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Zobrist to come down from third base and score (+.089).
Bottom Play (WPA): Spot-starter Trevor Cahill opened up the game by giving up a lead-off single to speedy Milwaukee third baseman Jonathan Villar. While he does have 41 stolen bases, Villar also leads the National League with 16 times caught stealing. But truthfully, he never even had a chance to be caught stealing by catcher Miguel Montero—Cahill picked Villar off at first base (-.058). Milwaukee never really got into a groove against Cahill, who provided the Cubs with five solid innings and didn’t allow a run.
Key Moment: Lefty reliever Mike Montgomery followed Cahill with two solid innings, making it seven total innings of shutout baseball from the two unheralded Cubs pitchers. Monty would come back out in the eighth, allowing a base hit to Manny Pena to lead off the inning. Ryan Braun—who had started the day on the bench—would come up as a pinch-hitter for pitcher Tyler Cravy, and Joe Maddon would have no choice but to bring in set-up man Hector Rondon.
Rondon had a rough return to the mound on Sunday after not pitching for 12 days, giving up two singles and two home runs to the St. Louis Cardinals while only recording one out. He would get Braun to fly out on the first pitch, but would throw a wild pitch that sent Pena to second base, walk Villar, and get behind in the count to Orlando Arcia. But with the tying run standing at the plate, Arcia would pop out to Rizzo and Gennett would pop out to Bryant to end the threat and preserve the 3-0 lead—and they’d end up adding another run in the Cubs’ game one, 4-0 win over the Brewers.
Trend to Watch: Jorge Soler has been red-hot since coming back to the Cubs after his DL stint, hitting .391/.417/.826 with three home runs in 24 plate appearances. In his career, Soler has played in 31 games in the month of August and has a .343/.407/.610 slash line with eight home runs in 118 plate appearances. There may be no real correlation from year to year, especially for a player like Soler with little track record to go on.
But the real trend to watch? His September numbers are not nearly as good: .237/.290/.474 with five home runs in 107 plate appearances. But much of that came last season, and we all know how that translated with the big outfielder heading into October.
Coming Next: The Cubs and Brewers turn right around and play the second half of their doubleheader at 7:05pm. Jason Hammel (2.90 ERA/4.20 FIP/4.25 DRA) will face off against Milwaukee starter Chase Anderson (4.90/5.24/5.22). You’ll recall that Anderson was the starter that threw seven no-hit innings against the Cubs back in May at Miller Park. He finished that game with 8 and 2/3 innings, three hits, two earned runs, and six strikeouts in a 4-2 victory over Chicago. The Cubs will be out for revenge, but it won’t be easy—Anderson has a 2.53 ERA and 20 strikeouts in his last 21 1/3 innings on the mound.
Lead photo courtesy Caylor Arnold—USA Today Sports