I don’t want to be too hasty, but I think this Shohei Ohtani kid is going to be pretty good and these Dodgers aren’t bad. It’s always great to catch a legendary player at the tail end of a cooler. He woke up over the weekend and had a very productive couple of games at the plate. I don’t know if it was recent comments by a few key members of the Cubs or Friday night’s comeback, but the Dodgers ignited Saturday and Sunday and played exactly the kind of smothering baseball they can play. On Saturday,
their offense erupted to cover up a pedestrian starting pitcher outing. On Sunday, their pitching was stifling. The net result: Two losses.
These are the days where you are super pleased that you got greedy on the last homestand and beat up two teams that were slumping at the time. Playing really consistently good baseball is the most comfortable way to stack wins. Burying a team when it’s struggling is another way to do it. The Cubs are not particularly known for that approach, but it was fun to watch this more recent streak while they were doing that.
You hope the team just bounces back and has a strong series in San Diego and doesn’t fall into a slump coming out of a couple of tough games. One of the things this team has been in recent years is able to put these types of games behind them and get back on the positive side. We can only hope. In the interim, we’re going to move past this one pretty quickly.
Three Positives:
- Michael Busch reached three times with a double, walk and hit by pitch.
- Nico Hoerner had a single and a walk.
- Yacksel Ríos faced five batters and got them all out in his Cub debut.
Game 28, April 26: Dodgers 6, Cubs 0 (17-11)
GRAPH
THREE HEROES:
- Superhero: Michael Busch (.122). 1-2, 2B, BB, HBP
- Hero: Alex Bregman (.009). 0-3, BB, HBP
- Sidekick: Pete Crow-Armstrong (.007). 1-3, BB
THREE GOATS:
- Billy Goat: Shōta Imanaga (-.187). 5.1 IP, 25 BF, 6 H, 3 BB, 5 ER, 6 K (L 2-2)
- Goat: Seiya Suzuki (-.108). 0-4
- Kid: Dansby Swanson (-.105). 0-4
WPA Play of the Game: Miguel Rojas doubled with runners on second and third with two outs in the first inning to increase the lead from one to three. (.145)
*Cubs Play of the Game: Alex Bregman followed a Nico Hoerner single to start the game with two straight baserunners. (.055)
Cubs Player of the Game:
Game 27 Winner: Seiya Suzuki received 72 of 127 votes.
Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 3/Bottom 3)
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.
- Nico Hoerner +7.5
- Michael Conforto/Shōta Imanaga +7
- Matt Shaw -7
- Jacob Webb -9
- Pete Crow-Armstrong -13
Current Win Pace: 98.4
Up Next: At 8:40 p.m. CT, the Cubs battle the Padres in San Diego. It doesn’t get much easier. The Padres are 18-9 and surely it is top of their minds that they lost to the Cubs in the playoffs last year. Despite the lofty record, they have only a +11 run differential (the Cubs are +31). They are 9-4 at home and have won seven of 10, despite losing Sunday.
Matthew Boyd (1-1, 5.79, 14 IP) makes his second start since returning from the injured list (and fourth overall). He allowed two runs on five hits over 4.2 IP last time out. He sh0uld have a little more rope this time to work with. The Padres start Randy Vásquez (2-0, 1.88, 28.2 IP). The 27-year-old righty is out of the Dominican Republic. This is his sixth start of the year. Last time, he won in Colorado, throwing seven scoreless innings and allowing just three hits, no walks and struck out five.
It looks tough, but these last couple of years, this Cub team hasn’t spent a ton of time in tailspins.
Go Cubs.
