The Cubs might have looked worse in this series than they have in any series since the one at Cleveland in early April. There were series losses to the Pirates (cumulative score 12-10 Pirates advantage), the Dodgers (22-10) and Rangers (10-7) in the interim. So maybe that Dodgers one was worse than the Cleveland series (10-7 Guardians). So if we say the two series where they have looked worst were the Dodgers (back-to-back championships) and the Braves (best record in baseball so far this year),
those two series don’t look particularly embarrassing.
You certainly hate to lose four in a row. I don’t really follow other teams, so I can’t say how representative historical Cub results are, but I’m guessing somewhat typical. As we saw yesterday, every Cub team going back to at least 2003 had at least one losing streak of four or more games. Excepting those 2003 Cubs, every other team had at least a five-game losing streak. These things can and do happen. The losses to the Rangers feel pretty lousy, though one of them was a superstar effort out of Jacob deGrom who has done that throughout his career when healthy.
I’m not losing any sleep at all over this stretch. I don’t think it’s likely to even be a footnote in my memory of this season. Instead, I’m dreaming on the two Ben Brown starts that have bookended the four losses. His first two starts of the year have come on the road. He’s thrown eight innings, allowed two hits, one walk and no runs. He has a 1.60 ERA on the season. IF he can build on this, that potentially fills an enormous hole on this team. Moving him to the rotation has weakened a bullpen that was the already the weakness of this team. But, at the end of the day, I’m going to prioritize better starting over better relief every single time.
The Cub bats were still pretty well stifled in this game. But six hits and three walks were just enough for them to put two runs on the board and combined with a strong outing from the pitching staff, that was enough to salvage a win heading back to Chicago. Coupling a “road” series on the South Side with two home series and a day off means the team will now get 10 nights in their own beds. The early Fangraphs projections favor the Cubs in seven of these nine games. I like to think the team can grab six over this stretch. If they can grab two from each series, they would be 34-19 heading to Pittsburgh for the holiday. I’ll take it.
Three Positives:
- Ian Happ had a homer, single, walk and scored both runs.
- Ben Brown threw four scoreless on one hit and one walk. He struck out seven.
- Daniel Palencia had maybe his best outing of the year, despite allowing a single. He struck out two in picking up his second save.
Hat tip to Phil Maton who bounced back with an inning that matched Palencia’s and Hoby Milner who faced seven, retiring six.
Game 44, May 14: Cubs 2, Braves 0 (28-16)
Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.
THREE HEROES:
- Superhero: Ben Brown (.215). 4 IP, 15 BF, H, BB, 0 ER, 7 K
- Hero: Ian Happ (.215). 2-3, HR, BB, RBI, 2 R
- Sidekick: Hoby Milner (.155). 2 IP, 7 BF, H, K (W 1-0)
THREE GOATS:
- Billy Goat: Nico Hoerner (-.104). 1-4
- Goat: Dansby Swanson (-.097). 0-4
- Kid: Matt Shaw (-.094). 0-4, RBI, SB
WPA Play of the Game: Seiya Suzuki batted with a runner on first and no outs, the game scoreless in the sixth inning. He hit a ground ball and Ha-Seong Kim had a throwing error allowing Happ to end up on third. (.132)
Braves Play of the Game: With runners on first and third and one out in the fourth, Chris Sale struck out Seiya Suzuki. (.065)
Cubs Player of the Game:
Game 43 Winner: Shōta Imanaga received 149 of 151 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.
- Michael Busch/Shōta Imanaga +13
- Michael Conforto +12
- Ian Happ +7
- Ben Brown +6
- Caleb Thielbar -6
- Phil Maton -7
- Dansby Swanson/Matt Shaw -11
- Seiya Suzuki -17
Current Win Pace: 103.1 wins
Up Next: On to Chicago to face the White Sox on the South Side. The White Sox also won Thursday, moving to 22-21. This is the latest the White Sox have been over .500 in a while now. They’ve won five straight to get here. They are 12-9 at home. They would have the second Wild Card spot if the season ended right now. They are one game ahead of the Mariners and Rangers for that last spot. Only one team in the whole AL is more than five games back of that spot and that is the Angels at only 5.5 back.
Edward Cabrera (3-1, 3.88, 46.1 IP) makes his ninth start as a Cub. He’ll be looking to bounce back from his worst start of the year, allowing five earned runs in five innings of work. He’s been better at home and during the day so far this year, so that’s something to keep an eye on. The White Sox offense has been pesky, sitting ninth in OPS.
26-year-old Sean Burke (2-3, 3.68, 44 IP) makes his ninth appearance and seventh start of the year. Last time out, he was a loser after allowing six runs on six hits and two walks in 4.1 innings against the Mariners in Chicago. Burke was the 94th overall pick, the third round pick of the White Sox in the 2021 draft. Burke also has pitched better on the road and during the day. So neither of these pitchers is throwing in their sweet spot.
I like Cabrera to bounce back and the Cubs to win their second straight.
Go Cubs!
