Baseball

Where Do We Go From Here? – Cubs/Marlins Series Review: Cubs Get Gut-Punched 2-10, 1-11, 2-0

By Summer Corson 816

“I don’t think a winning weekend series against this team is a lot for me to ask for.”

Well, do I look like an idiot now.

For the first time since we got similarly gut-punched in the playoffs last season, the Marlins came back to give us more of what we didn’t ask for. It was an offensive onslaught by Miami that the Cubs just couldn’t match, again. Our starting pitching let us down and even the defense you can usually lean on was spotty. The bullpen was trying its best to get everyone through it, but with no help offensively and a 3-inning start by Jake Arrieta one of these games they weren’t getting a lot of help from any other aspect of the team.

Time to wrap up these horrific games and get on with it. Don’t blame me if this is a short wrap, there was only so much of this baseball I could stomach and I’m sure it was the same for you too.

June 18, 2021
Cubs 2, Marlins 10
WP: Curtiss (3-1) LP: Davies (4-4)
Box Score

You absolutely could’ve justified taking Zach Davies out of this game when the Marlins scored five runs in the 3rd inning, but Rossy was once again trying to keep from overworking the bullpen. Davies was fine leading up to the 3rd inning, and pitched two more scoreless innings in the 4th and 5th after that. It was the 6th inning where he gave up two singles, a walk, and a home run that scored three more runners. It was more than enough to get the Marlins out of the game with a win.

The Cubs’ offense all came within the first third of the game. Joc Pederson solo homered in the 1st and 3rd innings to get the only Cubs runs. Meanwhile, the only other players who hit at all were Baez and Rizzo. Dan Winkler gave up two more runs in the bullpen and by that time if you were still watching the game you were subjecting yourself to psychological torture.

June 19, 2021
Cubs 1, Marlins 11
WP: Lopez (3-4) LP: Arrieta (5-8)
Box Score

Good thing there’s more of this dreck where that came from. Once again I must preface this by saying Jake Arrieta is cemented in Cubs legacy for his first tenure here in which he helped us win a World Series. But this is his second start where he’s been able to throw only three innings before completely collapsing, and this time he didn’t have the food poisoning excuse to help him out.

The Marlins took control of this game early and quickly, as Arrieta allowed six runs in the first three innings of the game, including a pair of two-run homers and two RBIs. After this game got safely blown open, Rossy gave Cory Abbott another try as a relief pitcher. He did well in his first inning in relief, but allowing a walk to Jesus Aguilar to start off the 5th inning would be his downfall. One fly ball and one single later and he allowed yet another Marlins run. In the 6th inning he allowed a double and two walks to make the game 8-0 Marlins before allowing a flyout and strikeout to end the inning. (He has since been optioned again.) He was replaced by Rex Brothers, who allowed a run of his own, Tommy Nance, who allowed two runs, and Eric Sogard throwing in the 9th inning, which pleased nobody.

The Cubs had hits this game from Sogard, Heyward, and Rafael Ortega while pinch hitting. Nothing to write home about by any means.

June 20, 2021
Cubs 2, Marlins 0
WP: Mills (3-1) LP: Thompson (1-2)
Box Score

This game at least had some — literally any — positives that came from it. The Cubs needed to bring in some bench guys to pinch hit to get the team going offensively, but hey, whatever works, right?

Patrick Wisdom was the one who started it off, and he’s honestly been someone I’ve really been liking. He had a super-hot first few weeks when he first came up for us, but even today his single started a spring of hits that gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead to win the game. Jake Marisnick, also pinch hitting, singled, along with Pederson singling to score Wisdom. (Pederson has been the only Cub this series with anything remotely representing consistent offense.)

The other Cubs run that happened earlier in the game was able to be scored without any hits at all. Heyward was able to walk, and after two strikeouts Pederson was able to reach on a fielder’s choice/throwing error. It only took a passed ball to score Heyward.

This was the defense’s best game, obviously, with Alec Mills allowing no runs on six hits and the bullpen not letting anybody score. It was all accented by a few Javy Baez highlight reel defensive plays, which are always fun to see. Craig Kimbrel closed it out on another solid, two-strikeout performance. For the second series in a row, a losing series ended on a high note.

—

This team is a streaky rollercoaster, but despite the win to cap off the weekend I am by no means feeling like this team is in a good place at all. They need more help than some Ricketts-approved trade deadline moves can make in the playoffs (which the team was fully hoping they weren’t gonna have to make come July anyway). The offense is still showing really bad cold streaks that we have seen year and year again. They will try to add at the trade deadline, and all we can do as fans is just pray that the offense clicks again like they were just a few weeks ago.

Despite the bad series, baseball goes on, as does life. The Cubs have a pair of games against Cleveland tomorrow and Tuesday to focus on now. Cleveland is behind only the White Sox in their division, as our friends from across town continue to cling to the first-place spot. Cleveland just lost a series against the Pirates this weekend but swept a series against the Orioles before that. Despite the losing series, Cleveland has scored 25 runs in their last four games, whereas it’s taken ten games for the Cubs to rack up that many. So if the Cubs want to win either of these next two games, the offense had better turn it on quick. Go Cubs go!

Baseball

Is Anyone Really Surprised? Cubs/Mets Series Review: Cubs Lose Series 2-5/2-3/3-6/2-0

By Summer Corson 881

Seriously though, I assume you all saw this with your psychic vision: the Mets have acceptable starting pitching, whereas the Cubs do not. It’s a 3.12 vs. a 3.72 ERA. Jacob deGrom played against Robert Stock of Literally Who status. deGrom was hurt, for God’s sake, and only pitched three innings, but it was enough to beat out the Cubs for the day. deGrom was also the only Mets starter to pitch less than 6 innings, which is how you can save your bullpen from getting overworked.

Seeing a team with good starting pitching makes me hope we’ll get some by the trade deadline, and hopefully the Cubs will produce more offensively on a regular basis to make a playoff push. Let’s break this series down and move on, shall we?

June 14, 2021
Cubs 2, Mets 5
WP: Peterson (2-5) LP: Arrieta (5-7)
Box Score

If you had any hope after last series that the starting pitching would continue to pleasantly surprise you, it’s probably time to take a step back. Jake Arrieta, loved by this city thanks to his contributions to the team from 2013-2017, is not who he used to be. As the season wears on, Arrieta’s ability to get to 6 innings pitched seems to dwindle, as three of his four six-inning games came in April and the last one he threw was on May 14.

Though it was a pitching duel for the first three innings, Arrieta broke down in the 4th inning when he gave up three runs against the Mets, allowing three hits and two walks, one intentional. Dominic Smith hit a solo home run off of him in the 5th inning before he got pulled between innings. Tommy Nance took over and allowed his first run of the season in his 13th appearance, after throwing two walks and allowing a single to score a runner to make it 5-0 Mets.

On the other side of the coin, the Cubs offense was nothing to speak of. A small rally was drummed up in the 7th inning after Anthony Rizzo and Patrick Wisdom hit back-to-back solo homers, but the pitching had already dug the Cubs in a hole that couldn’t be dug out of. The winning streak always has to end sometime.

June 15, 2021
Cubs 2, Mets 3
WP: Walker (6-2) LP: Mills (2-1)
Box Score

The Cubs didn’t look very good for this game either, not even leading for half an inning before the Mets were able to tie it up and then eventually take the lead entirely. Alec Mills started this game, his first appearance since May 15, and allowed five hits and all three runs on his time out, only lasting for 4.1 innings. He did, however, strike out six batters, so it certainly seems like he’s doing something…sort of right? If he can limit throwing pitches that players can crush and try to focus more on soft contact, perhaps the defense behind him can help him out in the future. He hasn’t pitched in a month, so I want to be sympathetic, but we also need quality outings from our starters and stat.

The rest of our bullpen once again gave us nothing to worry about — unless, of course, you’d like to worry about all the innings they’re being asked to throw. However, Rex Brothers, Keegan Thompson and Dan Winkler allowed no runs in their 0.2, 2.0 and 1.0 innings, respectively. They walked four batters altogether, though, which could probably be limited as well.

The most horrifying news of the day, however, was when Kris Bryant got hit by a pitch in the 1st inning and was almost immediately taken out of the game, replaced by Wisdom. Ironically, it was one of Bryant’s rare starts at third base, his “usual” position, as he’s been asked to pick up the slack for other injured players over most of the past month or so. Luckily, his x-rays seemed to come out negative, but the possibility of him sitting a game was likely.

The Cubs’ two runs came from Wisdom trading in his routine dingers for a single in the 3rd inning. Javier Baez took matters into his own hands the very next at-bat, hitting a home run to score them both. However, a walk, double and single at the bottom of the 3rd inning allowed the Mets to tie it, and a sac fly in the 5th inning gave them the lead they’d never give back.

June 16, 2021
Cubs 3, Mets 6
WP: Reid-Foley (2-0) LP: Stock (0-1)
Box Score

As soon as the lineups came out you knew what was coming with this one. The Cubs decided to start a 31-year-old pitcher named Robert Stock in his Cubs debut after only 51 major league appearances. And they had him pitch against Jacob deGrom, one of the best starters in baseball. deGrom, granted, was just coming off a start he left due to injury, but it only really took his three innings pitched for the Mets to establish themselves as the dominant team.

Stock was pulled up apparently because he was throwing 4 innings consistently in the minor leagues and was also hitting upwards of 100 mph. He was only able to throw his fastest pitch at 99 mph on his fastball in today’s outing, but that still might be something interesting to mix in with the Cubs’ entirely soft tossing rotation? However, he gave up four hits and five runs in his, again, 4-inning outing, and walked 6 players for an 11.25 ERA this season.

Anthony Rizzo hit a solo homer in the 4th, but other than that the Cubs weren’t able to figure out the Mets’ pitching, often leaving runners stranded on base if not getting struck out three times in a row like in the 2nd, 3rd AND 8th innings.

The Mets finished up their scoring by the 5th inning, where a solo homer made it 6-1 Mets. The Cubs ended up scoring two runs in the 9th inning after Wisdom walked and Rafael Ortega homered to drive them both home, but it wasn’t enough to overcome New York.

June 17, 2021
Cubs 2, Mets 0
WP: Hendricks (9-4) LP: Stroman (6-5)
Box Score

For the seventh start in a row, Kyle Hendricks was able to throw at least 6 innings, helping the Cubs get tonight’s win. When the Cubs have good starting pitching, they can almost always outhit their other problems, if they even have any. Although the Cubs’ bats weren’t super good this game, they once again faced a hot starter having a career year who struck out eight batters, walked only one and allowed four hits over 7 innings. Javier Baez produced the only runs of the game at the top of the 1st inning: with Kris Bryant (who luckily returned) singling before him, he was able to hit a dinger to center field to score them both. It would end up being all the Cubs needed — the other two hits for the Cubs all game long came from Joc Pederson and Jason Heyward, respectively.

The Mets were, for once, confounded by tonight’s pitching staff, only getting two hits the entire game, both off of Hendricks. The bullpen pitchers kept the Cubs in it as per usual around here, with Andrew Chafin allowing no hits and throwing a pretty nifty strikeout. Tepera had a strikeout, too, and Craig Kimbrel was able to come in and save the game, despite getting to a three-ball count a few times. Hopefully the Cubs can use this win, however meager it may seem, to help propel them back into a winning streak and help get some offense back.

—

The Cubs are finally getting an easy matchup this weekend against the Miami Marlins, down in the dumps of the NL East with a meager 29-39 record. The Marlins have won two of their last three series, but the series they won were against similarly garbage teams like the Braves and the Rockies. If there was ever a time to get out of an offensive funk, it’s now. Now that I’ve said that, the opposite will likely happen, but I don’t think a winning weekend series against this team is a lot for me to ask for. See you on the other side of it. Go Cubs go!

Baseball

Is This Hope That I’m Feeling? – Cubs/Cardinals Series Review: Cubs SWEEP Series 7-5/7-2/2-0

By Summer Corson 980

The good times certainly outweighed the bad if you were a Cubs fan this weekend. With Wrigley Field at 100% capacity and the fans going nuts, the Cubs seemed to get another rush of adrenaline that pushed them to winning an important series against the Cardinals. After Friday’s blip, where Kohl Stewart only went 4 innings, the Cubs starters were, dare I say it…good?

Both Kyle Hendricks and Zach Davies went 6+ innings this weekend, giving the bullpen a needed breather to keep from tiring out as this full-length season continues. More big games from the starters, and the Cubs, dare I say it, look dangerous? More important games are coming up, and soon, so we’ll have to see how this team fares.

June 11, 2021
Cubs 7, Cardinals 5
WP: Nance (1-0) LP: Cabrera (1-2)
Box Score

Let’s be honest: the game didn’t start the way any of us wanted to, with the Cubs pretty much always behind on the score, as Kohl Stewart made his second start as a Cub and almost immediately started giving up hits. In the 2nd inning, a walk and two singles were able to score the Cardinals’ first run of the game, and they added onto that in the 3rd when a walk and two more singles allowed another run to score.

It took around half the game for the Cubs’ offense to show up, but I’d take that over them never showing up at all. The Cubs started out with a solo home run by Joc Pederson in the 4th, and by the top of the 5th the Cardinals had scored another run before Stewart was pulled for Keegan Thompson. A single by Nolan Arenado was all the Cards needed to make the score 5-1 Cardinals, but amazingly the Cubs came roaring back at the bottom of the inning with three runs of their own. Although Contreras walked and Jason Heyward (finally) singled, it was Sergio Alcantara, the second baseman for today, who was the hero of the inning. His triple scored two runs, and after a kind of hilarious Yadier Molina throwing error, he was able to score to make it 5-4.

Though by this time the inning ended with the Cubs behind, it was Anthony Rizzo in the 6th who hit a solo bomb to tie the game, and in the 7th inning it was Heyward again with a leadoff single, Jake Marisnick with a single, and Joc Pederson again being the catalyst for some runs as he hit a double, scoring both men in front of him. The Cubs ended the game offensively for both sides through a solo homer by Contreras in the 8th.

Once Thompson stepped off the mound, the Cubs only allowed one hit and one walk and had five strikeouts. The Cardinals tried to make contact on Craig Kimbrel’s pitches in the 9th inning but kept getting pop-ups that were easy plays for guys like Baez. Even when the first batter hit a ground ball off Kimbrel’s pitch, it was Baez who made a crazy split-second play to Rizzo to get him out quickly. Good work was done by all.

June 12, 2021
Cubs 7, Cardinals 2
WP: Hendricks (8-4) LP: Gant (4-4)
Box Score

The Cubs have done it again. In front of a rip-roaring crowd, it only took two innings for them to blow this game wide open. Kyle Hendricks was able to pitch 6 innings, a rarity these days for a Cubs starter, and allowed the only two runs the Cardinals would get all game. Those runs were both homers and came off of only three hits he allowed; he also had two strikeouts on the day.

The Cubs, however, had three home runs this game. The first one opened up scoring in the 2nd inning by Ian Happ that scored Willson Conteras, who walked earlier. Four straight walks (and one Pederson flyout) later, and the Cubs were up 3-1. Javier Baez singled to make it 4-1, and Rizzo got hit by a pitch which made the game 5-1 Cubs.

The team never looked back, despite the Cardinals hitting another solo home run to start the 3rd inning. A single and a walk put Hendricks in the diciest situation of the day, but he was able to get out of it thanks to the defense behind him getting lineouts and forceouts. Alcantara homered in the bottom of the 3rd, once again showing Cubs fans that he is competent on both an offensive and defensive level, but what call-ups haven’t been like that so far this season?

Maybe it was Trevor Megill, who didn’t have a good outing after being recently called up, trading places with Kohl Stewart for a reliever position. Megill only lasted 0.2 innings in the 9th and gave up one of only two bullpen hits of the game for the Cubs. He allowed two walks, loading the bases. The Cubs, not wanting to extend this game any longer than necessary, just decided to yank him and put in Craig Kimbrel, who was able to get the final out of the game.

June 13, 2021
Cubs 2, Cardinals 0
WP: Davies (4-3) LP: Martinez (3-7)
Box Score

The Cubs continue to dazzle, including on the starting pitching front, as Zach Davies went 6.2 innings of baseball where he gave up only 2 hits and 2 walks. Can I believe I’m writing these words? Not exactly, but I’ll take all the good that I can get for this team.

The Wrigley Field crowd cheered the whole way through (and made a very impressive beer snake in the bleachers) as the Cubs scored twice in the 3rd inning to go up on the Cards. It started out with Eric Sogard — yes, once again I’m amazed — hitting a double to start out the inning. He scored on a fielding error just two batters later, as Pederson was able to reach first. Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo then drew back-to-back singles to make it 2-0 Cubs.

Baez was not playing today after likely reinjuring his thumb after running to catch a ball in left field during yesterday’s game. Sergio Alcantara once again filled in for him at short, making all the big plays at shortstop that were needed, occasionally in an impressive Baez-like manner. More please.

After Davies looked shaky to start the 7th inning in a two-out situation, Rossy decided it was time for the bullpen. Ryan Tepera finished out the inning, getting the forceout to strand a few Cardinals on base. He might’ve gone three-up, three-down in the 8th inning if not for an overthrow to first base by Patrick Wisdom. And Craig Kimbrel? Well, we’re all just glad to be watching his hall-of-fame career.

—

The Cubs immediately turn around to face the Mets this week in New York. The Mets stand at the top of the NL East, and with a 3-game margin. They have played less games than the Cubs have, but are still similarly matched in points percentage, .561 for them vs. .578 for us. The Cubs have quickly and shockingly turned their entire season around, and if they win some games against New York this week, that’s right folks — we will be buyers at the deadline. You won’t have to see Kris Bryant leave until the winter.

Knock on wood, of course.

Baseball

Déjà Yu? – Cubs/Padres Series Review: Cubs Win Series 4-9/7-1/3-1

By Summer Corson 904

It probably helped that Fernando Tatis Jr. went 1-for-12 at the plate for the span of this series, but the Cubs were able end this first of two west coast road trips on a higher note than how they started. After getting the doors blown off of them in the first game thanks to not being able to outhit their pitching woes, the Cubs were able to beat on the Padres this week, holding them to only one run in the final two games of the series.

More importantly and amazingly, they were doing this without some of their best players—most notably absent this series was Javier Baez, who was on a roll offensively in the last Padres series. Jason Heyward has had no hits since returning, and the Cubs are still without Nico Hoerner, as well as David Bote, if that still matters to any of you. And the injuries keep on coming, as it was announced Adbert Alzolay would be added to the 10-day IL after an ugly start to this series.

Despite these obstacles, the Cubs came through offensively and were able to hold it together defensively to get the job done, even getting the win over Yu Darvish, who for all intents and purposes should still be pitching on this team. As we like to say here, the indignities never cease. Let’s break these games down.

June 7, 2021
Cubs 4, Padres 9
WP: Weathers (3-2) LP: Alzolay (4-5)
Box Score

Considering the Giants series we just came from, who could’ve guessed the Cubs’ starting pitcher would collapse in a game again? Alzolay allowed the Padres to get up early in this one, allowing two Padres runs in the first two innings of the game and having to throw over 50 pitches to get to the 3rd. By the 3rd inning, he had struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. for the second time of the night, along with Eric Hosmer, but a walk and a home run right afterward put the Cubs in a pretty dicey 4-0 hole.

After only two singles in the first three innings, the Cubs’ bats woke up just in time for a rally to make the game a one-run contest. Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo singled, and Patrick Wisdom walked to load the bases. Jake Marisnick, back in the lineup playing his first game in almost a month, hit a single that scored Bryant and Rizzo to make it 4-2. Ian Happ decided to come up and bunt for some reason, getting out at first but advancing the runners. Sergio Alcantara, the knockoff Baez replacement whenever he is needed, was able to RBI Wisdom on a sac fly, and then it was 4-3 Cubs.

Alzolay then proceeded to put up a four-pitch walk to start the 4th inning and Rossy yanked him. Alzolay was not happy with his performance, throwing his glove in the dugout and looking pretty pissed. Soon after the game it was announced he’d be put on the 10-day IL for a blistered finger. It was a tough outing for the young pitcher who is currently the only bright spot in the Cubs’ rotation that exists at all, but he’s gotta be better than tonight if the Cubs have a chance at the division or the playoffs.

The Dodgers scored two runs in the 6th and piled on three more in the 8th inning, allowing them to run away with the game. Rex Brothers, in to relieve for Alzolay, allowed no hits in his inning out, but Keegan Thompson allowed a hit that scored the runs in the 6th inning and Cory Abbott’s 1.1 innings at the end of the game allowed four hits and three runs, only one of them earned. The Cubs scored a measly run in the 7th inning thanks to a solo homer by Ian Happ, but other than that the Padres were able to successfully come out on top this game.

June 8, 2021
Cubs 7, Padres 1
WP: Davies (3-3) LP: Lamet (1-1)
Box Score

For once during his tenure with the Cubs, Zach Davies didn’t look half bad on the mound as he faced his team of yore. Despite this, the Padres’ starter in Dinelson Lamet was pitching well also, and we went the first three innings with no score. However, Lamet collapsed to start the 6th inning, giving up two singles and a double to score Joc Pederson and Kris Bryant, added onto the solo homer he gave up to Willson Contreras in the 4th. His reliever could only get the first out of the inning before allowing Patrick Wisdom’s 8TH DINGER IN 15 GAMES to blow the game wide open, 5-0 Cubs.

Certainly Zach Davies is no Yu Darvish, and I don’t think anyone else complains about that more than I do. However, Davies pitched a full 6 innings, allowed only one hit, walked only two batters and had 4 strikeouts. It was the lowest number of hits he’s allowed in a game all season, and by many numbers it was the best game he’s played generally since his season debut on April 4. Credit where credit’s due here.

The Cubs were able to score two more runs in the 7th inning to make the game really over, and thanks to our trusty bullpen the Padres never really got back in the game offensively. Andrew Chafin, Tommy Nance, and Alec Mills all pitched one inning each. Chafin had a strikeout and only allowed one hit, while Nance had two strikeouts and no hits at all. Alec Mills, making his first appearance on the mound for the Cubs in nearly a month, allowed the only Padres run of the game after walking two batters and letting Ha-Seong Kim hit a double. However, two strikeouts later he was able to end the game for the Cubs.

June 9, 2021
Cubs 3, Padres 1
WP: Brothers (2-0) LP: Darvish (6-2)
Box Score

The Cubs are finally looking back to their winning form, able to win the series against the Padres despite having to face old demons and current elite pitching by Yu Darvish. It was Jake Arrieta who was up to the task of battling against him, and this game was a pitcher’s duel all the way until essentially the 7th inning, where the Cubs took the lead on an RBI double play by Rizzo. The other two runs were scored by solo homers for the Cubs, with Joc Pederson doing it in the 4th inning and Sergio Alcantara doing it in the 8th inning.

Like I said, it was a pitcher’s duel, and though Yu Darvish played the longer game, he was the one with the loss. Veteran Jake Arrieta only pitched five innings compared to Darvish’s seven, but he allowed only one run to Darvish’s two runs despite Arrieta allowing one more hit. The Cubs bullpen, and I know I sound like a broken record, got it done. Rex Brothers got the win with two strikeouts in his inning in the 6th. Tepera and Kimbrel also allowed no hits, despite Kimbrel having 0 strikeouts to close the game — very uncharacteristic of him.

The Cubs were intentionally sitting some important players this game in order to give them two days off before a big series this weekend against the Cardinals. In doing so, some younger players in the pipeline were able to show their skills, and Alcantara was certainly one of them again today with his important run and keeping things together at shortstop as Javier Baez took this series off. Additionally, we saw PJ Higgins catching for Willson Contreras and Rafael Ortega in for a stint. Props to these guys for sliding in and not being horrific — hell, even contributing at times.

—

Like I said, the Cubs have a day off tomorrow and then they come back to Wrigley where they will face off against the Cardinals for the first series at 100% fan capacity. The Cardinals have dropped a bit in the standings since we last played them, being 3.5 wins back of the Cubs and first place. Don’t look now, but the Cubs and the Brewers are neck and neck at the top of the Central Division, so any wins we can get against the Cardinals will be important, especially since the Brewers get the much easier matchup this weekend against the Pirates. Go Cubs go!

Baseball

Falling Back to Planet Earth – Cubs/Giants Series Review: Cubs Lose Series 2-7/5-8/3-4/4-3

By Summer Corson 712

The good times can never last long for this Cubs team, and after watching this series against the Giants, who are as of today the best team in the MLB, one thing is for certain: we need a starting pitcher to make that jump up to be in the elite group of the best teams in the league. And if I recall correctly WE HAD ONE. So thanks, Ricketts family.

Another series starts tonight so let’s get this review of mostly terrible games over with.

June 3, 2021
Cubs 2, Giants 7
WP: DeSciafani (5-2) LP: Davies (2-3)
Box Score

The win streak can’t go on forever, and the Cubs reminded us of that. Our bats got stymied, only getting five hits all game. The two runs we garnered were in the 3rd inning to take the lead and it was on a 2-run homer by Joc Pederson.

Just an inning later in the 4th, the Giants tied it up, and the inning after that consisted of Zach Davies getting pulled after allowing two singles and a walk in a one out situation. The highlight of my boyfriend’s night was listening to me say “he’d have to hit a 3-run homer here to blow the game open and he won’t” while listening to the game on the radio and then five seconds later Brandon Crawford hitting a 3-run homer there to blow the game open.

The Cubs wouldn’t come back, and there were plenty of fielding errors and poor pitching for everyone involved that the game was over by the end of the 5th inning. Zach Davies still sucks, if you’re wondering, playing only 4.1 innings and allowing 8 hits and 4 runs. The bullpen was also uncharacteristically bad, allowing three runs and two walks. Brad Wieck pitched the 8th, however, and allowed no hits and had a strikeout.

June 4, 2021
Cubs 5, Giants 8
WP: Menez (1-0) LP: Arrieta (5-6)
Box Score

At first it seemed like things would be better this game, especially when you start things off with a two-run homer by Kris Bryant. However, Jake Arrieta did the equivalent of spitting up all over himself in the 2nd inning, allowing—count ‘em—6 total runs in those two innings. He ended his outing at the end of the 2nd inning after throwing 58 pitches. It was obvious Rossy really didn’t want to pull him early; multiple mound visits were made to try to slow things down, but it didn’t matter because he just kept getting hit off of. After a 2-out, full-count situation, the Giants put the nails in our metaphorical coffin with a three-run home run to make it 6-2 San Francisco. The Cubs would never get the lead back. It came out after the game that Arrieta had food poisoning before his start and that’s why he did so poorly. Again, if we had a solid starting pitcher, this wouldn’t have been as big a problem as it was.

Then it was Keegan Thompson’s time to shine. Things couldn’t get any worse, right? He allowed two hits and two runs in his two innings out. He walked two batters, but he also struck out five. During this time, the Cubs tried to make it close by scoring two runs in the top of the 4th, thanks to a walk by Patrick Wisdom who was batted in by a Joc Pederson home run. However, in the bottom of the inning, Thompson gave up back-to-back home runs and a walk before he was able to strike out three batters in a row to end the inning.

The Cubs were able to score one more run in the game in the 5th inning, after a Giants throwing error allowed Willson Contreras to advance to 3rd base and Javier Baez batted him in while grounding out himself. Winkler, Wieck, Nance and Maples all pitched one respective inning out of the bullpen, and they allowed two total hits between them, two walks, and three strikeouts.

Because the fun can never end, there was also an argument caught on camera between Anthony Rizzo and Willson Contreras in the dugout of this game. I feel like everyone has talked this story to death, so I’ll skip over it for the most part. I’d be pissed off too if I was losing big games like this in this capacity.

June 5, 2021
Cubs 3, Giants 4
WP: Gausman (7-0) LP: Stewart (1-1)
Box Score

Things continued to be more of the same for the Cubs again this series, as they were the ones to go ahead early in the game, this time through a home run by Patrick Wisdom, before pretty promptly coughing it up thanks to the starting pitching. This time it was Kohl Stewart starting because why not at this point? How much worse could he be than the rest of the rotation? He only went 3.2 innings while giving up 7 hits and 3 runs. After allowing a solo home run in the 3rd, he allowed a walk, two singles, a sacrifice bunt and another single in the 4th inning to let the Giants take the lead 3-2, which they once again would never surrender to the Cubs. He was replaced by Tommy Nance in that inning, who was able to get out of it without another Giants hit.

The rest of the bullpen did well, with Winkler allowing the only other run of the game; it was a double that scored a batter who walked earlier in the inning. The fun news out of the bullpen today was that we saw a NEW PITCHER CALLUP in Cory Abbott, who pitched two innings and didn’t look half bad. He only allowed one hit and one walk in his time up, and he even struck out a batter. Tepera closed things out, allowing no hits.

Obviously, the damage had already been done. The Cubs tried their best to rally in the 9th inning, where Rizzo was able to capitalize on a Giants fielding error to allow Bryant, who was able to stay on base after a challenge, to score. Baez had also singled, and with two outs Baez and Rizzo both stole bases to get into scoring position. But Jason Heyward, finally activated after his injury and playing today, unfortunately grounded out to end the game.

June 6, 2021
Cubs 4, Giants 3
WP: Hendricks (7-4) LP: Cueto (4-2)
Box Score

The Cubs at least were able to win one, coming from behind to win a close game, but it looked a bit dicey at first. Kyle Hendricks gave up a solo homer in the 1st inning, and then allowed a single, a walk, and another single to allow the Giants to go up 2-0.

Patrick Wisdom was the offensive hero tonight, as he launched yet another homer in the 2nd inning to put the Cubs within one. However, the bottom of the inning saw Hendricks give up two doubles to give the Giants a 3-1 lead. Ian Happ and catcher PJ Higgins were able to make a huge throw to home plate afterward, however, to get the tag at home and end the inning with minimal offensive damage.

Patrick Wisdom homered, again, in the 4th inning and scored Happ, who doubled earlier. But the 5th inning was when the Cubs really became the Cubs. Kyle Hendricks hit a double, which was truly astonishing, and then Rizzo singled and Baez reached first base on a fielder’s choice, scoring Hendricks to make it 4-3 Cubs.

Additionally, Hendricks lasted 6.1 innings on the mound, allowing 7 hits and 5 strikeouts. 6.1 innings out of a Cubs starter is rare these days, and the defense was obviously solid behind him. The bullpen was back to being nails, allowing only 2 hits in 2.2 innings. Kimbrel came in to get the save — with two strikeouts, of course.

—

The Cubs certainly didn’t look as sharp for this series as they had in series past, but hopefully today’s win will allow them to turn things around as they go back to face the Padres again this week, this time in San Diego. The Padres just split a series with the Mets but got walloped yesterday 6-2. They are also still sporting a 14-player injured list, making their lineup about as easy as it gets for the Cubs to play against.

It should be noted the Cubs are a bit injured too, as Joc Pederson got hurt again this series, Baez exited last night’s game with thumb soreness and may or may not be in the game, Marisnick and Hoerner are still out with hamstring injuries, David Bote’s still out, and Trevor Williams is still recovering from his appendectomy, although the rotation wouldn’t be much better if he was still on it. The Padres, however, don’t have SECRET WEAPON NL PLAYER OF THE WEEK Patrick Wisdom, so they should fear us. All jokes aside, we should absolutely be riding Wisdom as the hot hand until his numbers come back to earth along with the rest of this team. Go Cubs go!

Everything Else

LOOK WHO’S BACK – Cubs/Padres Series Review: Cubs SWEEP Padres 7-2/4-3/6-1

By Summer Corson 1002

Yes, the Padres are even more injured than the Cubs are. And they were without Fernando Tatis Jr. in the lineup today. But don’t allow those factors to demolish the good times that were had this week at Wrigley as the Cubs were able to sweep their series against the 1st-place Padres.

Things were looking just fine for the Cubs after the first game, stomping the Padres with half an infield of “who?”s, but that’s just who the Cubs have been for most of the season. Then Anthony Rizzo came back for games two and three, collecting himself five hits and two RBIs on his time out. His .832 OPS at the end of game three was second on the team only to Patrick Wisdom, who has a ridiculous 1.458 OPS after hitting three home runs this series. Who the hell is this guy? More please?

Fielding errors and home runs galore made this series an exciting one to the very end as a Cubs fan, and it came without having to watch Yu Darvish pitch against us so we don’t have to feel that pain. (I’m sure we’ll see him next week, however.) Let’s break this series down before going on to the next.

May 31, 2021
Cubs 7, Padres 2
WP: Stewart (1-0) LP: Paddack (2-4)
Box Score

This was supposed to be Trevor Williams’s start, until he had to get an appendectomy and got put on the 10-day IL because that’s how this season has been going for the Cubs so far. Instead, they put Kohl Stewart to the fire, who has only 17 big-league outings to his name, with the last one being in 2019.

However, Stewart and the Cubs held things together against the Padres. Stewart pitched five innings and allowed only three hits and one run. He walked only one batter and struck out 2 keep his ERA at 0.0. He also had a nasty play to walk off the fourth inning, as the ball was hit right to his glove, which he caught on a bounce with his back turned to the batter and making the throw to Kris Bryant at first base. The other bullpen guys, Andrew Chafin and Tommy Nance, closed down the game completely for the Padres, allowing no hits and striking out three batters between them.

The bullpen was able to keep the Padres’ scoring down, as well. Keegan Thompson continues to impress despite his outing being the statically worst of the bullpen this outing. He allowed three hits and one run but also struck out three batters in 2.1 innings. He allowed Tatis Jr. to homer off of him, but that is forgivable considering how out of this world he plays.

This game was a homer-dependent game, as the Cubs homered five times which allowed them to score all 7 of their runs. Javier Baez homered twice, RBI-ing Kris Bryant in the 3rd inning as well. Patrick Wisdom also looked great offensively, as he hit his 2nd and 3rd homers of the year today while being a competent third baseman during this time of injury. Kris Bryant also had a homer, but considering the MVP numbers he is continually putting up it’s not much of a surprise to anybody.

June 1, 2021
Cubs 4, Padres 3
WP: Hendricks (6-4) LP: Weathers (2-2)
Box Score

This game was the only real nail-biter of the series, as Hendricks was able to make it one full rotation before the Padres were able to really start hitting off of him. Wisdom homered in the 2nd inning, scoring Baez, to put the Cubs up in a relatively comfortable 2-0 lead early. Then, on his second round through the rotation, Hendricks started to slide a little, allowing a solo homer from Victor Caratini (making Cubs fans to bitterly remember what a competent backup catcher looks like since at the moment our backup catcher is on the 60-day IL), a single to pitcher Ryan Weathers, and then another two-run homer to put the Dodgers ahead, all in a two-out situation. Manny Machado singled, but after that Hendricks was able to finally get the strikeout he needed to get out of the inning.

Luckily for us, the Cubs answered immediately to this one. Sergio Alcantara, bright-eyed and playing his 13th career MLB game, got on base with a leadoff single. Despite Kyle Hendricks’s best efforts on a bunting attempt, Alcantara was called out at 2nd, meaning Willson Contreras was the leading run when he stepped up to the plate. He crushed the ball to center field for a two-run homer, of course.

Are you bored yet of me telling you the bullpen was fantastic with no issues? There were no hits allowed for any of the three bullpen pitchers, and together they recorded four strikeouts. Three of them came from Craig Kimbrel, who struck out three Padres in a row to end the game. Thanks Kimbrel. Don’t ship him off to another team please.

June 2, 2021
Cubs 6, Padres 1
WP: Alozlay (4-4) LP: Johnson (1-2)
Box Score

The Cubs were able to sweep this series in a quite miraculous way, immediately answering back when the Padres took the lead in the 4th inning thanks to a throwing error on the Padres’ part to score Anthony Rizzo and get Rafael Ortega to reach first base. One inning later and Rizzo made his presence known, doubling on a huge, huge hit that scored two runs and put the Cubs up in a much more comfortable 3-1 lead. Rizzo is back and you missed him, but whatever you do, Ricketts family, don’t resign him.

We all thought that 3-1 lead was going to come the inning before in the 4th, after two Padres fielders pulled a Nico Hoerner/Ian Happ-à-la-1-month-ago, colliding trying to catch a fly ball and ending the inning on a double play before both collapsed on the field in pain and were taken out of the ballgame. Probably the worst part of this game to watch by far.

Back to the show: there was still so much to like. Ian Happ’s infield single scored another Cub to make it 4-1, and Javier Baez shortly thereafter hit an absolute bomb to make it 6-1. The people at Wrigley were going absolutely nuts, and that was before a fan hopped onto the field with a Jesus sign, got tackled by security, and Pat Hughes announced that he’d be “going to jail for the night,” though he didn’t seem sure of his prediction by any means.

Adbert Alzolay got the win, allowing the Padres’ only run and three hits, striking out seven batters. And the bullpen was once again absolute nails: they allowed two hits between the four of them, Nance got himself in and out of a pretty sketchy jam in the 7th inning, allowing 0 of 2 Padres in scoring position to score that day. It was exactly the game the Cubs needed to end on before the west coast trip.

Finally, shoutout to Boog Sciambi for singing what was legitimately the worst version of the 7th-inning stretch me or my dad have ever heard.

—

It’s road trip time, as the Cubs will be spending some time in California to play the Giants, who were on a four-game win streak before they got walloped by the Angels yesterday to the tune of 8-1, and that was without Mike Trout or Shohei Ohtani in the lineup, so yikes.

Despite this, and thanks to the Padres’ collapse this series, the Giants now find it is them at the top of the NL West standings with a 34-21 record. Some wins against the Giants, who are slightly less injured than the Padres right now, are quite necessary. Like Soundgarden (good all the way to the end), the Cubs will have to just keep on rowing through these games, come hell or high water, picking up as many wins as they can in order to stave off the selloff. They’re trying their damndest to do so, and it’s making great baseball. Go Cubs go!

Baseball

Playtime’s Over – Cubs/Reds Series Review: Cubs Win Series 1-0/10-2/1-5

By Summer Corson 875

History is deemed to repeat itself, as once again the Cubs take two out of three this series and another important position player goes down with an injury. The club’s six-game winning streak ended today as the Cubs weren’t as consistent with their bats as they had been in the last few series.

We are also staring at an uphill battle with matchups against actually good teams as opposed to the bottom-of-the-barrel NL Central sludge we’ve been seeing as of late. The season will only get more exciting from here.

May 28, 2021
Cubs 1, Reds 0
WP: Alzolay (3-4) LP: Gutierrez (0-1)
Box Score

This game is the type of game fans point to when they argue that baseball is dying, that it’s too boring and this is why it’s hard to get more young people to watch. Nevertheless, the Cubs were able to win this one, as David Bote hit a solo homer as the only run of the game in the bottom of the 5th inning to give the Cubs the win.

This game was obviously a pitcher’s duel against Adbert Alzolay and the Reds’ Vladimir Gutierrez, pitching in his MLB debut. Alzolay won out, pitching 5.2 innings to Gutierrez’s 5.0, although it was Gutierrez with less hits (2 vs. 5) and walks (2 vs. 3). However, Alzolay allowed no runs, the most important metric, and also had six strikeouts on the day. There were also times in innings 1 and 2 when Alzolay pitched himself into a bit of a sticky situation with runners in scoring position, but he was able to pitch his way out of both of them. A solid outing overall.

Andrew Chafin continues to show us his capabilities as a reliever are just as solid as his abilities to rebuild cars and boats, as Ohioans are wont to do. He allowed only two runs and had a strikeout in his 1.1 innings out.

Tommy Nance and Craig Kimbrel finished out the game, pitching one inning each and both striking out one batter.

There were only three Cubs hits on the day, coming from Kris Bryant (of course), Javier Baez and David Bote again. The bats were not exactly working out today, but hopefully that is just an anomaly and not a trend.

May 29, 2021
Cubs 10, Reds 2
WP: Thompson (3-1) LP: Castillo (1-8)
Box Score

The Cubs were able to hop on the board early in the 2nd inning thanks to a litany of tough fielding plays by the Reds, where they probably could’ve gotten Contreras out at 3rd base but were unable to. Soon Eric Sogard, king of singles, was able to hit one between short and third base, scoring Contreras, and then a single by none other than Zach Davies ended up scoring David Bote right after, putting the Cubs up 2-0.

Then David Bote got hurt, and he looked like he was hurt pretty badly. A dislocated shoulder was eventually confirmed for him after the game, and he got taken out immediately. Considering Bote was third on the team in RBIs and had been playing pretty well over the past few weeks, including making solid defensive plays wherever he’s slotted, this is certainly not good news.

A pretty nice Reds double in the top of the sixth to the corner of right field in a bases-loaded situation allowed them to tie the game, but it only took to the bottom of that inning for the Cubs to break out offensively, thanks in part to four walks in the inning that allowed Eric Sogard to amble on home. A pitching change didn’t even help the Reds get out of the inning, as two singles were able to score two more Cubs, making it 6-2 by the time Baez characteristically struck out to end the inning.

The Cubs piled it on, scoring four more in the next two innings, including a solo homer by Rafael Ortega, who at this point with all the players getting hurt will likely be a new staple on the field. Baez was able to score Joc Pederson in the 8th on a single, and Ian Happ singled also in the 8th to RBI in both Bryant and Baez. At least the offense got going.

As for pitching, Zach Davies went the usual five innings, allowing two hits, two walks and striking out three batters. The bullpen was really solid, allowing no runs in four innings. We saw Rex Brothers pitch for the first time in ten days. Keegan Thompson was credited with the win, allowing only one hit and getting a strikeout. Finally, Tepera and Wieck got two strikeouts each and Maples ended the game by allowing only one hit.

May 30, 2021
Cubs 1, Reds 5
WP: Mahle (4-2) LP: Arrieta (5-5)
Box Score

The Cubs once again were unable to generate a lot of offense, having four total hits on the whole night: Pederson, Bryant, Contreras, and the presumable-new-third-baseman-for-the-next-ten-days Patrick Wisdom. Additionally, three of those four hits came in the 8th inning, where Bryant’s RBI single drove in the only run despite it being far too late in the game for a comeback.

Jake Arrieta was also pretty horrendous, as he was only able to stay in the game for 3.2 innings and in that stretch gave up all five of the Reds’ runs off of six hits. He walked four batters, allowed one homer, and struck out only three in an ugly, forgettable performance to add to his illustrious career.

The only good Cubs news I have to report here is that the bullpen was once again nails. Brad Wieck, who took over for Arrieta in the 4th inning, was the only bullpen pitcher who allowed a hit. The other three pitchers—Brothers, Maples, and Winkler—allowed no hits and only two walks between them all.

—

Anthony Rizzo is still day-to-day with a back injury, and before the game we learned that David Bote will in fact be on the 10-day IL. It’s grand, because the next two and a half weeks of the schedule is pretty brutal. The Cubs will be facing the Padres, the Giants, the Padres again, the Cardinals, and the Mets in that span. And in case you’re still fully engrossed in playoff hockey, these teams are all currently sitting at the top or near the top of their respective divisions.

This is the toughest stretch of baseball the Cubs have faced to date and going into this stretch after falling with a thud in today’s game is probably not great. And that’s not even mentioning the plethora of injured position players we are still hoping to get back soon.

These two weeks will be the ultimate test for this team, and their performance here will very likely help to determine whether or not the Cubs sell or stay put at the trade deadline (I still believe a selloff is imminent because after 2016 we cannot have nice things).

The fun starts now. Go Cubs go!

Baseball

Who’s Laughing Now? – Cubs/Pirates Series Review: Cubs Sweep Series 4-3/4-1/5-3

By Summer Corson 1035

I have returned from the boonies of southern Ohio, where I was constantly asking other people for their phones with better data than mine to check the score of each Cubs/Cards game. Two out of three wins ain’t bad for a Cubs team that was sitting at the bottom of the NL Central not too long ago. (Also, shoutout to the White Sox across town for slowing down the Cards enough this week so we could tie them for 1st place. Really couldn’t get a sweep there though?)

The Pirates are still garbage, despite the distant memory of them making us look like fools in the beginning of the season. The Cubs are finally on a roll and made this sweep look pretty easy, although that’s because it was for the most part. Let’s break these games down.

May 25, 2021
Cubs 4, Pirates 3
WP: Arrieta (5-4) LP: Cody Ponce (0-1)
Box Score

The Cubs started this game off with a spectacular passed ball by P.J. Higgins, filling in for the injured Willson Contreras. This happened after Jake Arrieta allowed a single and a double in the first two at-bats of the game. Another single allowed the Pirates to go up 2-0, and by the 2nd inning Arrieta still didn’t have a handle on things. He allowed a double, hit a batter and then allowed a single to make things 3-0 Pirates.

It was singlehandedly Joc Pederson who came to save the day for the Cubs. He hit two home runs, one a solo shot in the 3rd and one a two-run homer to tie the game. Then the old guard came up to bat to take back the lead, as Javier Baez doubled and Anthony Rizzo batted him in with a single.

Then, Nico Hoerner got hurt. It is yet another nasty hamstring injury for the Cubs, as the injury beast continues to ravage this team. Eric Sogard was his replacement, of course. Additionally, Matt Duffy also sat for this game for injury-related reasons, so you know that can only mean seeing even more fresh faces for this fielding group.

Shortly after this injury delay, Keegan Thompson went in to replace Arrieta after 5 innings pitched, 3 runs, a walk, and 7 strikeouts. Thompson threw 1.2 innings and looked pretty nice, allowing no hits and only two walks. Andrew Chafin immediately allowed a double but was able to get out of the two-out jam with a strikeout. Ryan Tepera and Craig Kimbrel pitched the 8th and 9th innings, respectively, allowing only 1 hit between the two of them and allowing the Cubs to squeak past this one with a win, pulling one game behind the 1st-place Cardinals.

May 26, 2021
Cubs 4, Pirates 1
WP: Williams (3-2) LP: Crowe (0-3)
Box Score

This game was a duel of pitchers playing against their old teams, as both Trevor Williams and Duane Underwood Jr. saw significant time today. Pirates starter Wil Crowe only lasted 1.1 innings, where he allowed 5 hits and three of four Cubs runs on the day. He only had one strikeout to his name before Underwood Jr. was called in to take his place, playing the next 3.2 innings and only giving up one hit throughout that span.

The Cubs were able to get up big in the 2nd inning thanks to the aforementioned ugly pitching by the Pirates. Thanks to having Jake Marisnick, Jason Heyward and now Hoerner on the 10-day IL, the Cubs called up Rafael Ortega to play center field today, where he was walked by Crowe and then was sent home thanks to a two-run homer by David Bote. The Pirates then allowed two Cubs singles, got a flyout, and allowed a Kris Bryant single to score Sogard to make it 3-0 Cubs.

After this starter’s meltdown by the Pirates, the pitchers on both teams were able to limit runs. The Cubs didn’t only get one hit until the 6th inning, where a double and two singles scored Eric Sogard again, giving the Cubs another insurance run. Trevor Williams finally got a win against his former team, pitching 6.0 innings against his former team, allowing only three hits and one run, striking out 7 batters. His only run came in the 8th inning after he allowed a double and a single to start things off. However, a double play and a strikeout kept things from going sideways for the Cubs.

Tommy Nance pitched an inning today, doing pretty well with no hits, a walk, and a strikeout. The last three Cubs pitchers were able to all but completely shut down the Pirates, allowing only two hits total and striking out four batters. Craig Kimbrel was up to his old tricks, closing things up for the team easily.

May 27, 2021
Cubs 5, Pirates 3
WP: Hendricks (3-4) LP: Anderson (3-5)
Box Score

The Pirates tried their best to recover after their hilariously unacceptable fielding blunder in the 3rd inning, after we all watched decision making skills on the field that were so poor I hadn’t seen anything similar since playing tee ball. And that play alone certainly cost the Pirates the game — if they had just…stepped on first base, the Pirates’ three home runs later on in the game would’ve been enough to at least send this to extra innings. Ian Happ’s single, which was another fielding atrocity in and of itself, ended up scoring Javy Baez after he made MLB headlines with that baserunning, giving the Cubs a lead they would never give back.

In other news, Kyle Hendricks was at least able to play seven innings. He probably wouldn’t have played as long against any other team, but the Pirates are still on another level of horrific in our division and because of it Hendricks was able to comfortably give up six hits and three solo home runs without giving up the lead. Dan Winkler and Ryan Tepera were the bullpen appearances, striking out two, walking two, and only allowing one hit between them.

From a hitting standpoint for the Cubs, Kris Bryant is still playing at MVP levels, homering as the second batter in the 1st inning to start the game off on the right foot and grounding into a double play that ended up scoring Eric Sogard. In addition, Anthony Rizzo sat out his second straight game due to more muscular strain. One of the many new faces who have appeared recently to fill in the growing number of fielding gaps was Patrick Wisdom, whose full count solo homer in the 4th was overshadowed by the fielding debacle the inning before but was a pretty nifty one.

—

The Cubs play the Reds this weekend, who are at the bottom of the NL standings if you pretend the AAA-level Pirates don’t exist. The Cubs will need to rack up points against the Reds because they play the Padres next week who are 32-19 and atop the NL West. The Reds are similarly banged up with players going on IL and having knee surgeries and all kinds of tough stuff. In addition, the Reds will be giving a pitcher his big league debut tomorrow, so we’ll see him and hopefully not any more of Amir Garrett, because I’ve had about enough of him since the last series.

See you then, and go Cubs go!

Baseball

Just Keep on Rolling – Cubs/Nationals Series Review: Cubs Win Series 4-3/6-3/3-4/4-2

By Summer Corson 924

The Cubs got the three wins they needed to put them back over .500 and place themselves second in the division this week against the struggling Nationals. They did this while battling injuries; the injury bug continues to make its way around the clubhouse, as we continue to see new starting position players get injured in Anthony Rizzo and, most recently, Jason Heyward and Justin Steele. (Please can Kris Bryant NOT be next?)

Despite these injuries, the Cubs were able to outscore the Nationals 21-10 this series as the offense continues to putter along. The bullpen pitching is finally looking solid also, which is quite good considering our starters still can’t survive very long into any game, it seems. Without further ado, let’s break down this week’s games.

May 17, 2021
Cubs 4, Nationals 3
WP: Alzolay (2-3) LP: Lester (0-2)
Box Score

Things started off badly relatively quickly for Jon Lester, making his first start at Wrigley in a Nationals uniform. Just about everyone in the top half of the Cubs lineup was able to hit off him. First it was a couple of singles by the top of the order in the 1st and a sac fly by Anthony Rizzo to score a runner. Then Jason Heyward hit a two-run bomb to center to make it 3-0 Cubs in the 2nd inning. Contreras’s second hit of the night was a solo homer in the 3rd, and by this point just about everyone felt a little bit, just a teeny bit, bad for Jon Lester. But hey, at least Marquee didn’t cut to commercial in the middle of the 1st inning to show the fans of Wrigley giving Lester a standing ovation before he put up this performance!

That being said, our starter, Adbert Alzolay, wasn’t exactly nails either. Although he kept things scoreless through the first two innings, he allowed a Trea Turner home run in the 3rd inning to give the Nationals a little bit of life. To rub salt in the wound, Kyle Schwarber hit a two-run homer in the 3rd inning to cut the Cubs’ lead to only one, but the Nats’ bats would die after that.

The Cubs scored one run per inning in the 6th, 7th and 8th. Javy Baez hit a solo homer in the 6th to give the Cubs some insurance. Eric Sogard was able to single on a ground ball to Schwarber, which scored Nico Hoerner. Finally, in the 8th, a Heyward single was able to drive in Anthony Rizzo, who had a double of his own earlier in the inning.

Alzolay survived five innings and didn’t put up a single walk during that span. He had five hits and two home runs, and limiting those homers is something he can work on in the future. The bullpen pitchers that were trotted out after Alzolay did well allowed only one hit between the four of them.

The Cubs also saw a new pitcher make his major league debut, as Tommy Nance pitched the 8th inning. Called up since Alec Mills was put on the IL, Nance isn’t exactly young at 30 years old, but he’s definitely a new face to Cubs fans unless you frequent Iowa Cubs games. He struck out his first big league batter and had some pretty sweet pitches, including this nasty one:

https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1394484423454830592

May 18, 2021
Cubs 6, Nationals 3
WP: Thompson (2-1) LP: Harris (0-1)
Box Score

The Cubs put up another win in this game, pushing the team to back over .500…again. Zach Davies, the starter of the day, allowed all three Nationals runs in 5 innings pitched. He allowed a homer, a walk, and 7 hits total. Luckily for the Cubs, the bullpen and the offense were able to come through for the win this game.

Scoring for the Cubs started in the 3rd inning when David Bote and Nico Hoerner both singled. Willson Contreras singled after a Davies sac bunt to score both of them.

After the 4th inning, Anthony Rizzo left the game to deal with back tightness as a “precautionary measure,” because the injuries won’t stop rolling in for the Cubs. Kris Bryant moved over to first base, because the man can play anywhere nowadays, and Jason Heyward went to right field.

Immediately after, at the top of the 5th, the Nationals were able to get three singles in a row against Davies which tied the game up. Never fear, however; MVP Kris Bryant is here! (For a few more months, at least). He was able to bat in both Hoerner on a ground ball to give the Cubs the lead.

The game continued to stay tight as the top of the inning featured an immediate solo homer by the Nationals to tie the game up again. After Davies allowed another single right after that, he got yanked in favor of Keegan Thompson, who got the three outs for the inning with two strikeouts.

Bote homered at the bottom of the inning after a Matt Duffy walk, and the Cubs never looked back. Ian Happ had a solo homer in the 8th to make the final score 6-3. The bullpen pitched well generally, allowing two hits and striking out six batters between the four of them. They also allowed five walks, but the defense prevailed this game, as is wont to do with the Cubs.

May 19, 2021
Cubs 3, Nationals 4
WP: Scherzer (4-2) LP: Arrieta (4-4)
Box Score

Runners in scoring position once again killed the Cubs this game, as any other competent team would’ve made something happen in the bases-loaded situation in the 6th inning. However, Contreras and David Bote could not convert enough runs to beat the Nationals’ four. Ian Happ, at least, was able to single to make it 4-2 then, and Javier Baez hit a solo home run in the 9th to make this game at least seem close. However, when you’re facing really good pitching on the mound, sometimes the offense just shuts down.

Max Scherzer, hall-of-famer that he is, struck out eight Cubs, allowing five hits and only two runs. The Cubs had similar issues with the Nats’ bullpen tonight, not being able to convert when in RISP situations and getting struck out five times in the final 2.2 innings of the game.

At least Joc Pederson showed signs of life offensively, after being in the leadoff position for a few games. He had two hits today, leading the team. Poor David Bote was left on base on four separate occasions today, and Arrieta had a hit, surprisingly.

Arrieta’s pitching…well, it was not up to snuff when you take a glance over at the opposing dugout. He allowed seven hits and only struck out two runners. In fact, Tommy Nance again, the first reliever for Arrieta in the 6th, was able to strike out one more runner, and allowed no hits for another pretty impressive outing. More please.

May 20, 2021
Cubs 5, Nationals 2
WP: Steele (2-0) LP: Ross (2-4)
Box Score

Despite the wind blowing quite strongly out of Wrigley Field, the Cubs were able to keep the Nationals to only two home run hits, by Josh Bell and Kyle Schwarber…again. Sigh. However, Ian Happ was the star of the show today with two homers, solely responsible for three of the five Cubs runs.

Joc Pederson had another good day, also, with two hits total and an RBI. Anthony Rizzo also had two hits, coming back after sitting out the previous game due to the aforementioned back injury. Luckily for the Cubs, he seemed to get better just in time for Jason Heyward to be put on the 10-day IL today. Covering for him today and through the future is Nick Martini, who debuted quite marvelously with a sac fly RBI to score David Bote and put the Cubs on the board in the 2nd inning, along with scoring on a Joc Pederson single in the 4th to put the Cubs up 4-2.

Trevor Williams allowed the two Nationals’ runs, while also striking out five batters and allowing only two walks. However, he did not survive until the 5th inning, being replaced by Justin Steele. Steele was doing great, allowing no hits, three strikeouts, and only one walk through 1.1 innings until he exited the game due to an injury. Ryan Tepera replaced him, striking out three. Andrew Chafin was able to get out of his inning with no runs thanks in part to yet another amazing Nico Hoerner diving play to save a hit, and Craig Kimbrel got yet another save today with three straight strikeouts in the 9th inning.

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After this three-win series, the Cubs have now secured themselves quite precariously in 2nd place in the Central Division, three games back of the 1st-place Cardinals, who the Cubs ironically face this weekend.

The Cardinals are much better than the rest of their division so far, being quite a few games over .500, unlike every other team in the division until the Cubs’ win today that put them over .500 again. The Cards most recently completed a two-game sweep of the Pirates (not hard at all to do) and got trounced by the Padres, getting spectacularly swept themselves last weekend.

On a personal note, I am going camping tomorrow in an area with no TV or internet, so I’m sorry to say I will be unable to cover this weekend’s excitement, despite this being the first series of any actual meaning we’ve had all season. Luckily for all of us, I’ll be back next week to cover the next three game series of the Pirates/Cubs series, because God knows we’d all like to watch more of that.

See you then, and go Cubs go!

Baseball

Back in the Saddle Again? – Cubs/Tigers Series Review: Cubs Win Series 4-2/8-9(F/10)/5-1

By Summer Corson 903

The Cubs took two out of three against a Tigers team that is really bad at fielding and similarly bad at hitting, besides yesterday’s game, which they won in extras. The Cubs also saw the return of most of their important players from the 10-day IL, including Nico Hoerner, Ian Happ and Jake Arrieta.

However, Alec Mills was placed on the 10-day IL today with a strained lower back. Mills is the go-to inning-eater in the bullpen when the starter collapses and needs to be pulled after three innings, which happens more often than any of us want. So pitching could be a bumpy ride over the next week and a half. Luckily, the Cubs are about to play four against a bad Nationals team before they face the first-place Cardinals, so hopefully we can rack up some more wins there.

May 14, 2021
Cubs 4, Tigers 2
WP: Arrieta (4-3) LP: Skubal (0-6)
Box Score

The Cubs came into this game much healthier than either series that came before this. Jake Arrieta pitched his first game in two weeks and looked pretty solid doing it. Hoerner was finally back in the lineup, despite not getting a hit or walk this game. Luckily, the Tigers are atrocious on the field, committing multiple errors that allowed some other Cubs to get on base and score runs.

First it was Kris Bryant making the Ricketts’ trade bait dreams come true to open up the game with a two-run homer in the 3rd inning. Then Rizzo doubled to score Jason Heyward, who had hit a double earlier to get on base. Finally, a Baez popup that for all intents and purposes should’ve been an out ended up getting dropped by the Tigers fielder, allowing Bryant to score that same inning after taking a walk.

Arrieta pitched pretty well up until the 6th inning; he had allowed 2 hits, 1 strikeout, and 1 walk up until then. The Cubs defense was good behind him as always, making double plays every time a Tiger made it on base. That is, until the 6th inning when Arrieta allowed back-to-back solo homers, the first one to Jake Rogers whose mustache rivals anyone’s in the league, and Robbie Grossman, who hit his third homer of the year.

That was the end of Arrieta, who all in all had a good first game back. The Cubs bullpen was able to keep the lead, as we saw Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin and Craig Kimbrel for one inning each. They all recorded 0 hits, 0 walks, and 4 strikeouts between them to get the W. Kimbrel had 3 of those 4 strikeouts to shut down the Tigers entirely at the bottom of the 9th.

May 15, 2021
Cubs 8, Tigers 9 (F/10)
WP: Fulmer (3-2) LP: Kimbrel (0-2)
Box Score

This game was much more of a back-and-forth affair offensively for both teams, especially since both teams’ starting pitchers got pulled in only the 3rd inning. The endless parade of bullpen pitchers immediately giving Tigers players runs, hits and walks made this game a tough one to watch.

The Cubs began the game strong, as leadoff hitter Joc Pederson was able to triple to start things off on the right foot. Kris Bryant was able to draw a walk immediately after and Anthony Rizzo was able to bat them both in with a double: 2-0 Cubs. But Trevor Williams did not have a good start to this day, giving up two doubles, a walk, a single, and a force-out that allowed the Tigers to score three runs. After allowing another hit and a walk in the 2nd inning, he was yanked for Alec Mills.

The Cubs were luckily able to make offense happen in the 3rd inning, as a single, double and RBI groundout helped the Cubs tie the game. Then Matt Duffy doubled to put the Cubs ahead, but it wouldn’t prove to be enough.

Mills wasn’t much better than Williams on the mound, as he allowed two singles, a walk and a wild pitch that ended up scoring a runner in a bases-loaded situation. The Tigers tied the game again with a ground-out RBI that put the Tigers ahead, making Rossy yank Mills. The replacement, Justin Steele, was also bad — shocker.

Matt Duffy came to save the day with a huge THREE-run homer in the 5th inning that put the Cubs back on top 7-6, and then we sat back and watched in horror as the 6th inning saw Dan Winkler unable to get 3 outs and get replaced by Rex Brothers, the fifth pitcher of the day. Then Brothers loaded the bases in the 7th and got yanked. Ryan Tepera played too, getting a strikeout and allowing a single for the Tigers to tie the game. Keegan Thompson pitched the 8th, getting three strikeouts to keep them alive to the 9th, and two more strikeouts to get them to the 10th inning.

It was Matt Duffy’s time to shine today, honestly, which I’m certainly not mad at thanks to his flat play lately. His hit in the 10th to put the Cubs up again was his 5th RBI of the game, leading all players on the field. Then, Craig Kimbrel came in to pitch, but he was unable to come in clutch for us like he has so many games before, letting the Tigers score two and walk off the game 9-8.

Throughout all of this, Ian Happ had no hits today and struck out twice on his first game back from being on the IL. He made plays he needed to make in the outfield, however, and would improve offensively in the following game.

March 16, 2021
Cubs 5, Tigers 1
WP: Hendricks (3-4) LP: Boyd (2-4)
Box Score

The Cubs’ pitching did not completely collapse like last game, despite Kyle Hendricks and his ugly track record of starts so far this year. After making it past the elusive 7th inning, he was able to pitch almost 9 innings and finish with 8 hits, 8 strikeouts and 0 walks. He was, as always, helped out by the defense behind him, who were pretty solid against the Tigers’ bats. The good defensive plays of the game included a double play and a Hendricks pick off in the 3rd, which you rarely see these days.

As for the offense, the Cubs were able to get ahead in the top of that 3rd inning, after Happ singled and Contreras walked. With some stellar baserunning, Happ was able to score from 2nd after Kris Bryant RBIed him in and grounded into a force out simultaneously. Javier Baez struck out swinging characteristically, however, to end that inning.

Happ doubled again in the next inning, scoring Duffy to make it 2-0 Cubs. In the 6th, Duffy hit yet another single, and a David Bote double scored him to increase the lead. Hoerner was able to sac fly Bote to make it 4-0, and then Happ hit a solo home run to make it 5-0 Cubs. Happ went 3-for-4 today, looking much better today since getting off the IL.

By the 9th inning, it was time to pull Hendricks, and Dan Winkler relieved him with no outs and runners on first and second. With the help of the defense and the hinderance of a replay review that said the third out was not an out at all, the Cubs were able to secure the win and hop the Reds for third in the NL Central standings.

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Like I said above, the Cubs turn right around and play a four-game series against the Nationals through Thursday, as both Jon Lester and Kyle Schwarber return to Wrigley for the first time in different uniforms — prepare yourselves for yet another montage video, as the Cubs marketing department is so skilled and experienced at making those.

Lester has started three games with the Nationals this season, going 5 or 6 innings each, striking out ten batters and sporting an impressive 2.25 ERA. In his last two starts, the Nationals have lost both games. Schwarber has a .213 batting average so far this year on a team that has trouble scoring runs. In Lester’s first start with the Nationals, Schwarber hit the 2-run walk-off homer to win the game for the team.

Thanks to the lack of offense on the Nationals’ part, they sit at the bottom of the NL East with a 15-20 record, four games back of the first-place Mets. Their last series, a wild one against the Diamondbacks, saw the Nationals win 17-2 and then turn around to lose 11-4.

Although emotions may be running high for players in both dugouts this week, the newly-mostly-healthy Cubs will need to continue hitting well and making zero defensive mistakes to continue their climb back to .500. And maybe I shouldn’t even mention the fact that the Cubs need to see their starters play well while the team is without Mills. See you Thursday to wrap those games, and go Cubs go.