Facing another pitcher who was a first -ound pick, this could have been another tough night. I’m going to be honest, half way through the game, I was still worried a little. I believe in this team, but this trip has been a bit odd. The Cubs have become a little homer dependent on this trip. I don’t believe that will be a long term thing. But it can be a thing when you face a lot of good pitching.
The first three runs in this one were solo homers. But things opened up in the back half of the game. Five of the runs did score on homers, but the offense did click enough to add three important runs and keep Daniel Palencia and Drew Pomeranz out of throwing back to back. The same can’t be said for Ryan Pressly and Brad Keller. So the Cubs will be a little short for Wednesday’s game, but not as bad as it could have been. Hat tip to the offense for that.
This stretch of 13 straight games hasn’t been easy. We knew it wouldn’t with stiff competition and the front nine on the road. But eight games in, the Cubs have four wins. One of the things that has helped them is not getting behind the proverbial 8-ball. Wednesday’s contest will be the worst game of the stretch so far as far as pitcher availability. The trip has been well managed and well pitched, even if all of the results haven’t quite been there. It’s looking increasingly like they won’t exceed the seven wins that felt like the over/under line for the 13-game stretch. But, eight is definitely in play, nine is possible and six looks remote.
The Cubs offense had a relentlessness on Tuesday night that has been absent lately. They posted 13 hits and drew five walks. They did allow 10 hits the other way, but only walked one batter and hit another. Eight Cubs had at least one hit. Five Cubs scored runs, six Cubs had hits. The offense was a team effort. The bullpen threw 4⅔ scoreless innings to bring home the win. This was very much a full team effort.
When CBS Sports was selecting the Cubs as their No. 2 team in the power rankings, tonight was the kind of game they were thinking of. This game was started by Colin Rea who wasn’t even really dreamed of as a Cubs starter before the season, at least not in any long-term role. Maybe a spot start and some long relief. A dominant bullpen and a strong offense. This team wins in spite of the things that it isn’t.
This is a great win. It restores a lot of faith. All of things we saw in April and May are in there, even if they’ve been hidden a little.
Pitch Counts:
Cubs: 155, 38 BF
Phillies: 180, 44 BF
The Cubs pitching was far from efficient in this one. 150 pitches is usually about where the tipping point starts to happen. If you throw that many pitches, you are often in a little bit of trouble. The saving grace was that the vast majority of that damage was while Rea was in the game. The Cubs only turned one double play. The Phillies didn’t lose any runners on the bases. So this was just some amount of damage control and stranding baserunners.
The bullpen performed quite well. Five Cub relievers saw action and none of them threw more than 17 pitches. That was Chris Flexen, who has only thrown back-to-back once. So, even there, not a huge deal. He’s almost certainly not going to pitch Wednesday. As noted, Pressly and Keller have thrown consecutive games. Craig Counsell is going to likely be reluctant to use all three of those pitchers tomorrow. Ryan Brasier and Caleb Thielbar have often been used in back-to-back situations. There’s a strong chance we see both of them Wednesday, almost regardless of game situation.
On the other side, the Phillies pitching was a wreck. The Cub offense reached the plateau of seeing 20 pitches per inning. The Cubs forced Mick Abel to throw 89 pitches in four innings and got into the Philly bullpen. The first two relievers they used controlled their pitch counts. The second of those two, Taijuan Walker managed to allow two runs and complete an inning on 13 pitches. From there, it went downhill. Joe Ross took 35 pitches to retire four batters. That’s where the game got away from the Phillies. Carlos Hernandez then took 24 pitches to record five outs. Like the Cubs, two pitchers threw back to back and one threw a lot of pitches. Hernandez, Ross and Tanner Banks might all be unavailable.
So with a day game after a night game, this could be a battle of resources. Both teams will be hoping their starter can be efficient and effective and maybe get some outs in the seventh.
Three Stars:
Strangely controversial opinion. Ian Happ is good at baseball. Two homers, two walks and three runs driven in. Also, three runs scored. Big game for Ian. 115 wRC+ now on the season, not massively below his career numbers.
Dansby Swanson had a homer among two hits, drew a walk, drove in a run and scored one. Nice bounce back after a key strikeout the night before.
I don’t cop out often, but I can’t particularly separate out one pitcher, so let’s go with Brad Keller. He retired 9-1-2 with a one-run lead.
Game 67, June 10: Cubs 8, Phillies 4 (41-26)
Fangraphs
Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.
THREE HEROES:
Superhero: Ian Happ (.447). 2-3, 2 HR, 2 BB, 3 RBI, 3 R
Hero: Brad Keller (.108). IP, 3 BF, K
Sidekick: Dansby Swanson (.096). 2-4, HR, BB, RBI, R
THREE GOATS:
Billy Goat: Pete Crow-Armstrong (-.172). 0-5, DP
Goat: Colin Rea (-.139). 4⅓ IP, 20 BF, 7 H, 0 BB, 4 ER, 5 K, HBP
Kid: Ryan Brasier (-.119). ⅔ IP, 3 BF, H, 2 K
WPA Play of the Game: Ian Happ’s second homer, coming with two outs in the sixth, flipped a one-run deficit to a one-run lead. (.326)
*Phillies Play of the Game: Alec Bohm’s two-run single with one out in the fifth flipped a one-run deficit to a one-run lead. (.185)
Cubs Player of the Game:
Poll
Who was the Cubs Player of the Game?
0%
Reese McGuire 2-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R
(0 votes)
0%
Caleb Thielbar (IP, 3 BF, K)
(0 votes)
0%
Someone else (leave your suggestion in the comments)
(0 votes)
0 votes total
Yesterday’s Winner: Matthew Boyd reveived 62 of 159 votes with six players and “other” drawing multiple 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 +15
Drew Pomeranz +13
Shōta Imanaga/Miguel Amaya +11
Jon Berti -7
Ben Brown -11
Seiya Suzuki -12.5
Julian Merryweather -15
Dansby Swanson -19.33
Up Next: As I mentioned above, I think it could be huge to get a good start in this game. Ben Brown (3-4, 5.37, 63⅔ IP) starts for the Cubs. Ben pitched quite well the last two times around. He lost in Detroit, but he looked pretty good, allowing two runs over seven innings. The Phillies hit him pretty well in Chicago earlier this year.
Jesús Luzardo (5-2, 4.46, 72⅔ IP) represents another challenge against a left-handed starter. Jesús has gotten crushed in his last two starts, one at home and one on the road. He’s been charged with 20 runs in just 5⅔ innings. He was a third round pick out of the same hHigh school in Florida that produced Anthony Rizzo.
This is an interesting test. Brown has thrown better the last two weeks, Luzardo better overall. It’s very possible with two potent offenses that neither one of these guys makes it deep. This could be a real managerial test. Hopefully, Brown pulls together another good outing.