The Cubs avoid a sweep with a 10-3 win ahead of the trade deadline.
Phew. That was a cathartic win. You could feel the tension building in Chicago and throughout Cubs Nation. I mean, way back in game number 72, the Cubs reached 18 games over .500. Here they are 36 games later at that same mark. Though I’m completely comfortable giving some corners of Cub fandom a hard time for being fatalist, 36 games moving sideways isn’t super, even if that sideways move slowly pushed them to the top of the league as other top NL teams went backwards.
So getting swept by the Brewers would have sent blood pressures through the roof. The Cubs got that necessary win. They pushed the season series with the Brewers to four wins apiece. There are five games remaining. Those will occur in one five-game series in August, starting with a doubleheader. That will be a doubly important series with the winner of that series owning the tiebreaker and both teams knowing that they will not be able to affect the other team again before the postseason.
Between those two awful games, the second a fair bit worse than the first, the death of Ryne Sandberg and the tension ahead of trading season, it felt like things were ready to pop. So this is a really welcome win. But that tension hasn’t released yet.
This win would be an enjoyable one even with much lower stakes. Shōta Imanaga was reasonably good, particularly early. The bullpen was good. Craig Counsell managed it like this game was super important, using the high leverage relievers even in a blowout. The offense was productive, largely top to bottom. To use one of Al’s quotes, my complaint department is closed. Now trade a couple of about to wash out rookie league players for Tarik Skubal and Aaron Judge. Thanks.
(I hope it doesn’t have to be noted that the preceding comment was sarcasm and that I know that even if the Yankees wanted to trade Aaron Judge that he couldn’t be traded while on the injured list.)
Key Storylines: (turbo edition)
- Starting Pitching: Imanaga allowed three runs over five innings. But it felt better than that with the Cubs jumping out quickly to a 5-1 lead.
- Relief Pitching: Three Cubs relievers threw four innings, needing 14 batters to get 12 outs. This year’s Cubs team has finally been a little better with a number of guys spreading out the late inning work. But I think by this point, today’s three relievers are the top three.
- Homer Over Reliance: Two solo homers among 10 runs. They put together 11 hits, six of them doubles and hte two homers. They had five walks and a hit batter. No stolen bases.
- Third Base Production: Matt Shaw. One hit and a run scored in four at bats.
- Dansby Swanson: Batted eighth. A double in five at bats. One run and one run driven in.
- Opposing starter: Righty. They got back to pounding the righty. They also quickly chased lefty Jared Koenig. And they scored three runs in an inning against lefty DJ Hall. The two lefties faced 10 batters, allowing four hits, a walk and hit batter. In a nod to the long running conversation between CDu and me, it is a worthwhile endeavor to add lefties to face the Cubs, but also a reminder that they have stratified results against lefties that include them beating up on a reasonable number of them.
Pitch Counts:
- Cubs: 140, 34 BF
- Brewers: 166, 44 BF
What an incredible combined line for Brewers pitching. 11 hits, five walks, 10 runs, nine strikeouts. Talk about filling a box score. Did it matter that the Cubs saw a couple of these relievers Monday night? Who can say. But the offense was really effective all day long.
On the other side, Cub pitchers were reasonably effective. 15.5 pitches per inning isn’t great. But it was good enough. Brad Keller needed only 26 pitches to throw two innings. With an off day Thursday, all of these guys should be ready to go as the stretch run starts.
Three Stars:
- Pete Crow-Armstrong. Three hits, two of them doubles. Drove in a run. Scored two. Was hit by a pitch. Total nuisance.
- Kyle Tucker. Single, double, two walks. Two runs driven in, two scored. There are Cub fans who are disappointed with a guy who sits at .276/.391/.488 (wRC+ 147) which would be the second highest of his career, the only higher number being an injury shortened year (last year). His slug is down from his career numbers, but his on base has sustained most of the gains he made last year.
- Moises Ballesteros with the three-run double that blew the game open.
Game 108, July 30: Cubs 10, Brewers 3 (63-45)
Fangraphs
Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.
THREE HEROES:
- Superhero: Moisés Ballesteros (.199). 1-2, 2B, 3 RBI
- Hero: Pete Crow-Armstrong (.189). 3-4, 2 2B, HBP, RBI, 2 R
- Sidekick: Kyle Tucker (.113). 2-3, 2B, 2 BB, 2 RBI, R
THREE GOATS
- Billy Goat: Carson Kelly (-.143). 0-5, R
- Goat: Nico Hoerner (-.032). 0-3, BB, SF, RBI, R
- Kid: Shōta Imanaga (-.022). 5 IP, 20 BF, 5 H, 0 BB, 3 ER, 8 K (W 8-4)
WPA Play of the Game: Moisés Ballesteros had a three-run double with two outs in the third to give the Cubs a four run lead. (.222)
*Brewers Play of the Game: The first of two William Contreras homers came with two outs in the first and tied the game. (.107)
Cubs Player of the Game:
Yesterday’s Winner: Nico Hoerner (108 of 126 votes)
Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5)
The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.
- Kyle Tucker +30
- Matthew Boyd +20
- Shōta Imanaga +15
- Jameson Taillon/Miguel Amaya +11
- Matt Shaw/Jon Berti/Nico Hoerner -7
- Julian Merryweather -15
- Ben Brown -18
- Dansby Swanson -23.33
- Seiya Suzuki -29
Up Next: The trade deadline. Stay tuned to BCB for coverage of all the Cub moves. Then the Cubs host the 50-59 Orioles this weekend. The O’s have been playing better of late. But they’ve already made a move and more may be coming. They haven’t announced a starter for Friday’s series opener yet. Cade Horton (4-3, 3.67) will be the Cub starter. Cade hasn’t allowed an earned run over his last two starts covering 12 innings and appears to be blossoming.