The Cubs thunder their way to a 6-1 win to even the series.
Baseball is silly sometimes. The Cubs actually had more hits Friday. Of the seven hits the Cubs managed Saturday, five of them left the yard. Of course, that has everything to do with a pitcher who not only who has overwhelming stuff, but also manages contact. That was the case on Friday, but not so much Saturday. The Cubs homered off of three of the four Tigers to throw in the game. Make no mistake, this Cubs team is one of the best in baseball. I don’t know that they are yet positioned for a deep playoff run. But 64 games is no fluke. This team can ball.
Like the Tigers, I thought a lefty opener was a good strategy. Then the third batter of the game homered. And that’s no fluke either. What made the Cubs offense explode? Kyle Tucker. And not just his own production. But Tucker hitting in front of Seiya Suzuki is getting Seiya a lot of looks at left handed pitching. And he is demolishing them.
Literally my favorite part of this season has been going back and forth with CDu about the Cubs against left-handed pitching. They have split the first two games of this series against left-handed starters. The Tigers bought into the strategy and snuck in an extra lefty. They see what I see. The Cubs should be worse against lefties. And to some extent they are. Pete Crow-Armstrong and Michael Busch are neutralized a fair bit against lefties. But Tucker doesn’t fall off and Suzuki is turbo charged. Seiya, to this point, is breaking the strategy.
I’m going to watch with amusement to see just how many Cubs make the All-Star team. Heck, even Carson Kelly had an argument for a brief period and Matt Shaw is going ballistic now. Tucker, Suzuki, PCA and Busch all have very strong cases. Of course, they all play slugging positions and have stiff competition. There’s not one Cub offensively who you couldn’t create the argument for. Of course, most of them are well down the list and won’t make it. But this has been an absurd offense.
And all of that ignores their pitching staff. Do none of them make it? How do you not grab at least one reliever? And oh my gosh, a Cub reliever in the All-Star game? Could you have imagined that in April? Wouldn’t you be a bit angry at this point if they don’t take one of them? Wins have lost their glamour, but how many starts in a row does Jameson Taillon need to win? He’s deep in basically every game. Again, surely some guys having good numbers that get squeezed out in tough competition. But this team has a lot of guys who should at least be discussed. They got three in ‘23. Over or under? It has to be over, right?
Pitch Counts:
- Cubs: 121, 34 BF
- Tigers: 121, 35 BF
As you see, the numbers were basically identical. A slight rate difference for the Tigers pitchers since they faced one extra batter. But negligible, really. Both teams did reasonably well. Craig Counsell noted that really this was just about the Cubs and the long ball. It’s so apparent here. The Cubs offense had one more hit but received one fewer walk. Baserunners were very even. It was all about the long ball. The Cubs didn’t even put a runner into scoring position. That’s wild for a comfortable win.
Three Stars:
- Allow me to disagree a little with WPA. I thought the Seiya Suzuki homer early was huge and set the tone. Going back and adding one was just bonus.
- But I can’t drop Taillon any further than this. Seven innings, three hits and a walk. One run. That Tigers team is really good. This is a very strong start.
- Michael Busch had a homer and a walk. The man goes ballistic at the corner of right-handed pitcher and on the road.
Game 64, June 7: Cubs 6, Tigers 1 (40-24)
Fangraphs
Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.
THREE HEROES:
- Superhero: Jameson Taillon (.297). 7 IP, 25 BF, 3 H, BB, ER, 5 K, (W 7-3)
- Hero: Michael Busch (.169). 1-3, HR, BB, 2 RBI, R
- Sidekick: Seiya Suzuki (.090). 2-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
THREE GOATS:
- Billy Goat: Ian Happ (-.048). 0-4
- Goat: Kyle Tucker (-.044). 0-4
- Kid: Dansby Swanson (-.034). 0-4
WPA Play of the Game: Michael Busch’s two-run homer leading off the fifth pushed the lead to three. (.165)
*Tigers Play of the Game: Zach McKinstry’s one out triple in the fifth set up the only Tiger run. (.065)
Cubs Player of the Game:
Yesterday’s Winner: Ben Brown 119 of 136 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 +21
- Jameson Taillon +15
- Shōta Imanaga/Drew Pomeranz/Miguel Amaya +11
- Jon Berti -7
- Seiya Suzuki -10.5
- Ben Brown -11
- Julian Merryweather -15
- Dansby Swanson -21.33
Up Next: The third and final game of the season series between the two teams features an emerging star against a guy trying to re-establish himself as one. Cade Horton (3-0, 3.51, 25⅔ IP) makes his sixth career appearance. The Cubs have won the previous five. We know the disappointment will come eventually. It sure would be great if it wasn’t this game. He allowed one run over 5⅓ the last time. That was earlier on this road trip. The last time he pitched on four days rest, he allowed on run over 5⅓ innings. That would be terrific.
Jack Flaherty (4-6, 3.72, 65⅓ IP) is well known to Cub fans. The 34th overall pick in the 2014 draft by the Cardinals has a pretty good volume of appearances against the Cubs. He’s won his last two starts. That last one was one run over six against the White Sox and the one before that a home start against the Giants where he threw six scoreless. In May he was 2-3 with a 4.67 ERA in 27 IP. So despite those really good last two starts, May wasn’t a tour de force. 2023 was one of the worst years of his career. The Cubs faced him twice that year and did well both times. Those were the last time they faced him.
Flaherty is good, but isn’t what he was years ago. He’s only 29 though, so one can assume he’ll be productive in this league for some time. This is a fun test for Horton. This Cubs team passes so many tests.