A bad sequence John Lackey didn’t stop soon enough, and a dominant performance by Cole Hamels prevented the Cubs from sweeping the Rangers, but the wins Friday and Saturday ensured the team would begin the second half on the right foot. Top Play (WPA): For two uneasy innings, it looked like Hamels might shut the Cubs […]
Tag: Texas Rangers
Game 90 Recap: Cubs 3 Rangers 1
Top Play (WPA): Let’s take a moment to swoon over Yu Darvish’s slider: a dirty, pretty thing that eludes batters with its sudden downward drop-off. In just his fourth start of 2016 and his first following a DL stint for shoulder discomfort, Darvish wielded his standout pitch brilliantly, striking out seven Cubs by the time […]
Game 89 Recap: Cubs 6 Rangers 0
We witnessed a near-perfect 2016 Cubs performance on Friday afternoon, beginning the ceremonial second-half with a bang against the AL-best Rangers. Good pitching, patient and timely hitting, savvy managing, and superb defense: this game was a good one on all fronts. Top Play (WPA): Although the fireworks would come later, it was the Cubs’ half of […]
Series Preview: Cubs vs. Rangers, July 15-17
Oliver Sacks, in the opening of his seminal book The Man Who Mistook His Wife for A Hat, writes “I am equally drawn to the scientific and the romantic.” The famed neurologist and naturalist might as well have been penning a mantra for every Baseball Prospectus reader and writer who revels (or obsesses) in the minutiae of the game’s […]