NEWSLETTER
I mean … what am I supposed to say about that game. That was RIDICULOUS. The Cubs hung on to win, with Colten Brewer getting the save, but the tying-run was 90 feet away and the go-ahead run was in scoring position at second base. Oh, and all of that happened despite the Cubs maintainging a FIVE-RUN lead with two outs in the eighth inning.
That was WAY too close. Way too close.
And here’s the thing, it was actually the same old story again. From a bullpen meltdown to a Cubs offense that didn’t actually do as well as they should have. But Michael, they scored 6 runs on 11 hits and four walks?
Yeah, sure, but they went 3-15 with runners in scoring position and two of those hits did not result in a run a scored. They also went scoreless in the following situations:
- leadoff double, no outs
- bases loaded, no outs
- men on second and third base, no outs
… And I think there was another one in there too that’s escaping me. On top of all that, the only reason they actually wound up scoring six runs was thanks to some horrible calls by the home plate umpire, a sun-aided double that bounced over the wall, and a fielding error when Dansby Swanson was caught stealing that allowed Christopher Morel to score.
And they needed absolutely every single ounce of that luck, because the bullpen turned a 6-1 ballgame into a one-run game with just six outs to go. Mark Leiter Jr., who’s been off for weeks, let the bases get juiced before he handed the ball over to Tyson Miller, who promptly gave up a grand slam to our old friend Jorge Soler. It was just so ugly.
But, hey, a win’s a win. They just gotta be better on Friday.
Now set all of that aside, because it’s time to talk about The Ankin Law “Making It Personal” Player of the Game: Kyle FREAKIN’ Hendricks.
The Professor was absolutely LOCKED in today, racking up the whiffs and strikeouts, getting groundball outs, and taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning. And if Dansby Swanson would have just flipped the ball to Nico Hoerner instead of taking it to the bag, himself, Hendricks may have escaped with 6.0 scoreless innings. Nonetheless, his final line was very good and very-much needed: 5.2 IP, 2H, 1ER, 1BB, 8K (and one of those hits was a bunt single).
Just an incredible effort from Hendricks, after a nice outing in relief of Jordan Wicks his last time out. We’ll get into his nice little stretch here tomorrow, but the one big thing to notice (aside from all the whiffs) was his nasty, and more frequently used curveball. It was looking good today and seems to be the key to his attempted comeback.
Whew. Cubs win the game, Cubs win the series. That’s their first three-game series win since early MAY.
