Top Play (WPA): It’s the top of the sixth and despite some issues with his control, Jason Hammel has managed to limit the Marlins to just one run. There are two down and the game has been a thrilling battle of struggling offenses. Then former-Cub minor leaguer Justin Bour comes to the plate. I remember Bour […]
Tag: Recap
GAME 77 RECAP: CUBS 6 METS 1
Top Play (WPA): The Cubs came into this game having scored two runs or fewer in eight straight games. You could be forgiven for thinking that with a lineup featuring Mike Baxter and Jonathan Herrera that the Cubs would be likely to extend such a streak to nine. The Cubs appeared to be well on […]
Game 76 Recap: Cubs 2 Mets 0
First, your recommended listening for this piece, courtesy of Matt Trueblood. Top Play (WPA): Cubs manager Joe Maddon is fond of slogans. With the Rays in 2008, he famously preached that 9=8, meaning that nine guys playing nine hard innings every day would put the team among the eight going to the playoffs. It did. Later, […]
Game 75 Recap: Cubs 1 Mets 0
Top Play (WPA): This was a scoreless game until the sixth inning. Two eminently Stoppable Forces—the Cubs and Mets offenses, of recent vintage (see my colleague Matt Trueblood’s recent piece for more details)—had in fact traded zeroes for five consecutive frames before Matt Szczur lined a double to left-center in the top of the sixth, scoring Kris […]
Game 74 Recap: Cardinals 4 Cubs 1
Top Play (WPA): Coming into the bottom of the fourth inning, the game was tied at one and Jason Hammel was getting by with erratic stuff. He hadn’t looked quite the same since returning from a lengthy rain delay (one hour and 49 minutes, to be precise) just before the bottom of the second inning. […]
Game 73 Recap: Cardinals 8 Cubs 1
Top Play (WPA): I wasn’t around for the 1980s, so I can’t say for sure, but I’m pretty confident in saying that this was a pretty ’80s game, in that it was a blowout. (Pause for laughter.) Anyway, moving right along. Into the bottom half of the fourth inning, it actually looked somewhat possible that the […]
GAME 72 RECAP: CARDINALS 3 CUBS 2
Top Play (WPA): Stop me if you’ve heard this story before. The Cubs, on the back of a fantastic performance from Jake Arrieta, entered the bottom of the eighth inning with a 2-1 lead. Pedro Strop was set to take the mound, and you could be forgiven for feeling good about the team’s chances, given […]
Game 71 Recap: Dodgers 4, Cubs 0
Top Play (WPA): Sometimes things are just that simple. Not 15 pitches into his start Thursday night, everyone in the ballpark knew Jon Lester was in trouble, and men in Dodger blue took their leads at every base. Howie Kendrick was at the plate, and with one out in the inning I suppose there was reasonable cause to hope […]
Game 70 Recap: Dodgers 5 Cubs 2
Top Play (WPA): The Cubs came into this game having won four games in a row, beating the Dodgers in the two games that Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke started. So naturally, with a guy that the Dodgers purchased with cash from the Arizona Diamondbacks on the mound, the Cubs would struggle to get runs […]
Game 69 Recap: Cubs 1 Dodgers 0
Top Play (WPA): Speak of the Devil, and he shall appear. No sooner had the internet dust (also known by its common name, catnip) settled on my piece on the Cubs’ extraordinary record in one-run and extra-inning games, than the Cubs won in extras by one run. It’s nothing much more than coincidence, but it sure […]