The Cubs ride two homers and strong pitching to a 3-2 win.
Ten games into this 13 games in 13 days stretch, the Cubs are an even 5-5 after winning Thursday night. Friday will bring another new and interesting strategy. This will be the first time this year that the Cub starters have back-to-back starts each on four days rest. Modern pitchers don’t throw even on four days all that often. I’ll talk more about that at the end of this piece, but that’s one more thing the Cubs are battling.
Another first-round pick lefty gave the Cubs trouble. They managed just four hits and one walk for the whole game. Andrew Heaney retired 10 straight Cubs to start the game and didn’t take a ton of pitches to do it. He was coasting until Kyle Tucker singled. One out later, Pete Crow-Armstrong slugged a pitch that was quite high close to 400 feet for a two-run homer. We’ve now seen the kid take one from basically his shoe tops and another up near the shoulder. The man is a beast.
Ironically, I started the year wondering how to finish the sentence, Kyle Tucker is the best Cub outfielder since… Now one has to wonder if that question doesn’t belong to PCA first. I’m not one for hyperbole or getting ahead of ourselves, but he’s on pace for a 10+ WAR season. The last Cub outfielder up around there was Sammy Sosa in 2001. Oh, and when I say the last, I mean the only. That’s some pretty rare air. We don’t have to answer these questions today, but if PCA stays healthy and anywhere near this productive, he’s going to post one of the best seasons in the long and storied history of the Cubs.
Seiya Suzuki added a second long homer in the sixth inning. Seiya has absolutely crushed left handed pitching this year. Eight homers and 20 runs batted in over only 80 plate appearances against lefties. For contrast, he has nine and 37 in 209 plate appearances. I absolutely love Seiya batting between Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong. I’ve stayed way clear of it and I mostly will throughout. However, I’d like to see the three of them clumped together for years to come.
Jameson Taillon was good until he wasn’t. It got away from him fast. So fast, that it seemed like maybe Brad Keller didn’t get all of the way ready before coming in out of the pen. He had one of his shakier outings, hitting a batter and walking another. Of course, he did strike out two. The end result was an extra run allowed for Taillon. Fortunately, Keller recovered exactly in the nick of time.
Daniel Palencia and Ryan Pressly slammed the door to notch another win for the Cubs. I love what Craig Counsell did. He used Palencia, presently the Cubs’ best reliever, against the Pirates’ best hitter the last time through. I had hoped that he would consider using Palencia this way once Porter Hodge gets back. Or alternatively, that Hodge would be used that way. Pressly can close. I love the way the last two relievers were deployed. Maybe it would have worked the other way too. But there’s no question this worked this time.
It’s a credit to this team that players are able to shift up and down leverage without. I know some will sarcastically say that these guys make a lot of money to do what they are told. That’s easier said than done. There are guys all across baseball who pout and make a fuss.
It wasn’t pretty. But it was a win. I’m not here for style points.
Pitch Counts:
- Pirates: 103, 29 BF (8 IP)
- Cubs: 129, 34 BF
Pirates pitching did terrific. I’d say a near miss on a Maddux, but it comes in only eight innings. You’re going to win when you are down around 120 pitches more often than not. The Cubs only got 29 batters to the plate. That’s not going to be a sustained offensive attack. Isaac Mattson threw 20 pitches while recording five outs. He’s thrown 20 pitches and then pitched the following day once already this year. So the Pirates will have a full complement of pitchers Friday afternoon (on a day where odds suggest they won’t likely need it).
On the other side of the ledger, the Cubs were also pretty efficient. Taillon got up into the low 90s in pitches, working into the seventh. Keller and Palencia threw 16 and 15 pitches respectively. Ryan Pressly threw a very efficient ninth. He retired the side on just six pitches. For what I’ll call the ninth time in 10 consecutive games, the Cubs will have a full complement of relievers. Craig Counsell has been terrific over this stretch. Pressly has now allowed eight earned runs over his last 25 outings. And those runs all came in one game. 24 of his last 25 outings have resulted in no earned runs. If he’s not one of your trusted relievers, what does he have to do to get there?
Three Stars:
- Jameson Taillon held the Pirates scoreless into the seventh and after the Cubs had scored three. He allowed four hits and two walks total. He struck out seven.
- Pete Crow-Armstrong took a lefty deep on a night when the wind was blowing in. There isn’t a lot that he can’t do.
- Daniel Palencia gets my third slot. He took the last inning against the Pirates best hitters. Pressly, Tucker and Suzuki all make sense in this spot.
Game 69, June 12: Cubs 3, Pirates 2 (42-27)
Fangraphs
Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.
THREE HEROES:
- Superhero: Pete Crow-Armstrong (.218). 1-3, HR, 2 RBI, R
- Hero: Jameson Taillon (.185). 6⅓ IP, 24 BF, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 ER, 7 K (W 7-3)
- Sidekick: Ryan Pressly (.154). IP, 3 BF (Sv 5)
THREE GOATS:
- Billy Goat: Ian Happ (-.069). 0-4
- Goat: Nico Hoerner (-.046). 0-3
- Kid: Carson Kelly (-.039). 0-3
WPA Play of the Game: PCA’s two-run homer with two outs in the fourth for the game’s first two runs. (.244)
*Pirates Play of the Game: Jared Triolo batted with the bases loaded and two outs against Brad Keller and drew a walk, cutting the lead to one for the Cubs. (.123)
Cubs Player of the Game:
Yesterday’s Winner: Carson Kelly (53 votes) over Nico Hoerner (44 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 +23
- Jameson Taillon +17
- Drew Pomeranz +13
- Pete Crow-Armstrong +12
- Shōta Imanaga/Miguel Amaya +11
- Jon Berti -7
- Seiya Suzuki -12.5
- Ben Brown -14
- Julian Merryweather -15
- Dansby Swanson -19.33
Up Next: Game two of the four game set. Cade Horton (3-1, 4.11, 30⅔ IP) lost his first game as a major leaguer the last time. He allowed four runs over five innings against the Tigers. He wasn’t yet on the team when they last faced the Pirates.
Paul Skenes (4-6, 1.88, 91 IP) needs no real introduction. If the numbers weren’t impressive enough, I can show you that he is 1-3 with a 1.12 ERA over his last seven starts. He pitched into the eighth inning last time against the Phillies, recording 23 outs total and allowing two hits and one walk. The one obvious thing is that he has these strong starts but doesn’t win very often. The Cubs hit three solo homers on May 1 while beating him. He’s only allowed one homer in seven starts since.
Could the Cubs steal one again?