Tuesday night’s game was one of the biggest wins of the Cubs’ season to date, and the scoreboard didn’t even show it. The Arrieta Section: Unsure where this should fall in the narrative of the game itself, I decided it was worth simply breaking it out into its own space. Jake Arrieta, the ace who carried […]
Tag: Recap
Game 85 Recap: Braves 4 Cubs 3 (11)
Well, that was ugly, and then it was less ugly, and then it was Nick Markakis’d. Finally, roughly six hours after the scheduled first pitch, Jeimer Candelario flied out to center with the tying run on third, giving the Braves the win, 4-3, in eleven innings. It was a disappointing end to a frustrating night […]
Game 84 Recap: Reds 5 Cubs 3
Another day, another close loss. The Cubs could have won this one, but the fact that they didn’t isn’t especially galling. They just need to keep plugging. Top Play (WPA): Superstardom seems forever right around the corner for Addison Russell, and it’s never felt closer than it did during this series. Russell came up with […]
Game 83 Recap: Reds 9 Cubs 5
A Tuesday afternoon game might stir feelings of nostalgia and encourage Cubs fans’ notions of exceptionalism, but it set everyone on the field a bit on edge, and the Cubs’ wrong-footed start ended up being too much to overcome. Top Play (WPA): The bottom of the third inning was an insurgency, boy, a sight to see. […]
Game 82 Recap: Cubs 10 Reds 4
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the […]
Game 77 Recap: Cubs 9 Reds 2
Monday’s game between century-old rivals featured something that had never been done before, done by someone who doesn’t quite seem real, as Kris Bryant collected five extra-base hits, including three home runs and two doubles. His performance was one of the greatest in history, as he broke the Cubs’ record for total bases in a game, became […]
Game 70 Recap: Cardinals 7 Cubs 2
The Cubs are bad and you should feel bad. Top Play (WPA): Are you ready for this? Chris Coghlan walked leading off the fourth inning (.043). The end. This game was miserable cacophony, a metaphorical gnashing of teeth. While the first two games in the series were close, and in fact one swing at the […]
Game 69 Recap: Cardinals 4 Cubs 3
I’ll forgive you a little frustration, if you’re feeling it. This game, like last night’s loss before it, featured an unusually high proportion of missed offensive opportunities, poorly-placed ground balls, and Brandon Moss. There haven’t been a lot of games like this for the Cubs in 2016—to be frank, this one felt more like a 2014-era performance than anything […]
Game 63 Recap: Cubs 4 Nationals 3
Are you ready for the final 100 games of the 2016 baseball season? You know what they always say: it’s really the last 100 games where you find out what kind of team you have.* Top Play (WPA): Albert Almora, Jr. Almora. Albert. The Cubs had just lost their game-long lead, entering the ninth inning, and […]
Game 62 Recap: Nationals 4 Cubs 1
If there’s one thing recognizable to fans who root for Jake Arrieta every fifth day, it’s the utter hopelessness of an offense facing a right-hander in the midst of a historic roll. In Monday’s series opener, Washington Nationals’ Max Scherzer struck out 11 Cubs batters over seven innings, while facing just two batters more than […]