Top Play (WPA): The Cubs closed out their regular-season slate with a win (their 97th) in Milwaukee on Sunday, beating the Brewers 3-1 on the back of a strong—and perhaps final—start from Dan Haren, and a clutch hit from Anthony Rizzo. That hit, Rizzo’s final regular-season contribution to a brilliant season, came in the first inning, […]
Tag: Recap
Game 161 Recap: Cubs 1 Brewers 0
Top Play (WPA): The pivotal inning of the Cubs’ 96th win—a total which tied the 2015 club for their second-best record since 1945—wasn’t the inning in which the Cubs scored the game’s only run. Rather, it was the tense bottom of the eighth inning, where the Brewers threatened to score against Fernando Rodney. Prior to that point, […]
GAME 160 RECAP: CUBS 6 BREWERS 1
Top Play (WPA): Addison Russell led off the third inning by hitting a majestic drive down the left-field line that missed leaving the yard by just a few inches. Two batters later, Tommy La Stella turned on a fastball, smacking it into the corner in right to score Russell (+.119). Bottom Play (WPA): After a wild pitch moved La […]
Game 159 Recap: Cubs 5 Reds 3
Top Play (WPA): Austin Jackson drove in five runs Wednesday, and so what did he do in his second plate appearance Thursday? Nothing relevant to yesterday, because what happened yesterday has very little to do with what happened today and any attempt to suggest otherwise would just be building a false narrative. He homered (+0.270)! The […]
Game 158 Recap: Cubs 10, Reds 3
Top Play (WPA): The Cubs continued to cement their World Series contender status while racking up their win number 93—their fourth straight victory—a satisfying blowout of the lowly Reds. Interestingly, it took a few innings for the Cubs’ offense to get going, despite the lopsided final score. The Reds actually had the edge in win expectancy […]
Game 157 Recap: Cubs 4 Reds 1
Top Play (WPA): This game got out of hand for the Reds early, as the Cubs scored four runs in the first inning and never really looked back. The big blow in that inning came from Miguel Montero, who doubled to right-center (+0.174) off of Reds’ starter and Most-Boring-Name-Of-All-Time contender Josh Smith, scoring Kyle Schwarber and Anthony Rizzo and […]
Game 156 Recap: Cubs 1 Royals 0
It doesn’t feel like the end is here, or even near. The 2015 Cubs have been magic (or, as I still prefer, magick), and it doesn’t feel like this season has any right to end anytime soon. Jarringly, though, Monday marked the end of the regular-season home schedule. If the Cubs don’t win the Wild […]
Game 155 Recap: Cubs 4 Pirates 0
Top Play (WPA): A small side-effect of using WPA to determine top play, a dominant starting pitching performance almost never allows the starter to collect the hardware. Tonight is the exception, as Jake Arrieta took matters into his own hands. In the fourth inning with the Cubs leading 1-0, Pirate starter A.J. Burnett left a 91-mph sinker up and […]
Game 154 Recap: Pirates 4 Cubs 0
Top Play (WPA): Considering that the Cubs clinched their playoff spot late last night when the Giants lost to the A’s, the Cubs looked like they had a bit of a hangover in today’s game. Cubs starter Jason Hammel provided fans with a bunch of hope early on, cruising through the first four innings without […]
Game 153 Recap: Pirates 3 Cubs 2
Top Play (WPA): Starlin Castro’s year has been something out of a storybook. He entered the year as one of twin stars (alongside Anthony Rizzo) on a team ascending; he struggled mightily as the calendar turned from April to May, and then to the dog days of summer; he was, finally, removed from the everyday lineup […]