I don’t like to pump up a regular season win so much, but the one that the Cubs grabbed on Saturday night in LA certainly felt like a big one. 1-4 on the current road trip, losing the first 2 games in LA, I was hungry for a win. I think the Cubs were too. This was one of those games that raised the heartbeat a little bit. Playoff atmosphere maybe? Even more so because of our recent history with these guys? Even more so because we could meet again? Yeah, all of the above.
Let’s start with Yu Darvish, one of our favorite punching bags. He’s not earning his keep; I think that’s what it comes down too. We paid him all this money, and he has been average at best. He has shown signs this year, he’s had some good games, but on Saturday night in LA, in my opinion, he threw his best game of the year. It was against his ex-team, with whom we lost with in the World Series. We were in one of those spots where we needed our starter to shut the opposition down… to be that stopper of a rough stretch. 7 innings, over 100 pitches, only 1 run against this potent offense. Loved his performance; I guess he did too, saying “now we can move forward” after achieving some sort of closure vs the Dodgers. Well, I’m here to see how he’s moving forward; I think we all are.
The other guy on the mound was no slouch. We didn’t get our first hit until the 6th inning. Buehler was up there throwing “come and get me” fastballs; this was very evident in the 6th inning. After Russell broke the ice with the first hit of the game (just seconds after I was trashing him by the way), up came Schwarbino. Fastball right in the zone, strike 1. Fastball right in the zone, strike 2. Then I think Buehler got a little cocky and threw another fastball, this time in an 0-2 count, right in the zone. Kyle promptly lined it to right. 2 guys on with the big boppers coming up. The battle between him and Bryant was a good one. It was like one of the best young pitchers in baseball vs one of the best young (we can still call KB young right?) hitters. It was all fastballs by the way; he was pulling no tricks. Bryant finally just missed one as he flied to right. Next up was Rizzo; another battle ensued. More fastballs… then he threw an off speed pitch, after what was about like 15 fastballs in a row; Rizzo fouled it off. He finally got sawed off and grounded back to the pitcher. Dodgers won that battle, but that same duo would get another chance.
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Obviously I felt great, but then they said who was up for the Dodgers in the bottom of the 9th. I thought, this is what Kimbrel is for. But good old Pedro… I was telling my wife how he had fallen out of my circle of trust (and Joe’s) back in 2016; since then he’s been really good. And overall, numbers wise, he’s one of the Cubs best relief pitchers of all time, making that Arrieta trade even higher on the all time best trades list. I said, just don’t walk anybody. He got Turner, then Bellinger (huge K by the way), and then came Muncy. After going 2-0, and seeing who was on deck, I hoped he walked him; don’t give in Pedro. I think that was the conversation between him and Caratini on the mound. He didn’t give in, walked him, and promptly struck out the rookie. W!
It was a great way to kick off Father’s Day, although I actually got my kickoff on Thursday night, and Saturday morning watching my son play baseball. With the Cubs slated to play another Sunday night game, I’m hoping for a great ending to the day as well. Huge win boys, tied for 1st place, looking for the split in LA. Go Cubs!
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