A Tip of the Recap – April 21st
The Cardiac Cubs came from behind to steal another victory, this time a 9-8 win over the Pirates.
The Good
Starlin Castro was today’s star (pun intended); he went 3 for 5 with 4 RBI, including the tying runs in the top of the 9th. One of his hits was an absolute bomb of a home run (his 2nd) to just right of center. He came up huge today and is now the team leader in RBI with 10 to along with a .352 AVG.
Kris Bryant looks so comfortable up at the plate and had another good day. He went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI and a run scored, including a walk that put him on base to score the go ahead run in the 9th. He has only struck out 1 time in the past 4 games (18 plate appearances).
Fowler, Rizzo and Soler each scored 2 runs hitting at the top of the order. Fowler reached twice via the walk, Rizzo reached 3 times (2 hits and a walk) and Soler had 2 hits. They are doing an outstanding job of setting the stage for the middle of the order and that part of the order is coming through.
Beef continues to make Cubs fans wonder why David Ross was signed in the first place. He had 2 big hits today and what turned out to be the game winning RBI groundout in the 9th inning. He hit a double that just missed being a HR to left-center then late hit a solo bomb to center (his 2nd).
Edwin Jackson is quietly becoming a force out of the pen for the Cubs. He pitched a perfect inning with 1 strikeout to extend his scoreless beginning of the year (5 innings).
Hector Rondon looked filthy in the bottom of the 9th getting 3 quick outs on 13 pitches for his 3rd save. One of the outs was a Andrew McCutchen strikeout for the 2nd out.
The Bad
Jason Motte looks good for portions of innings, but can’t seem to get a whole solid inning of relief in for the Cubs. Today he was just an out away from keeping the score tied at 5, but instead he gave up a bases-loaded (and clearing) double to give the Pirates a 8-5 lead.
Addison Russell had a very uneventful debut, but did make a great pick on a tough ball at 2nd and did make some hard contact in his last AB. He finished the night 0 for 5 with 3 Ks; better days are ahead.
The Ugly
Brian Schlitter is making a habit of ruining starts for the rotation. He came into relieve Wood in the 6th inning and allowed 1 inherited runner to score then gave up 2 more runs of his own to give up the lead to the Pirates.
His ERA is now at 9.64 and if he makes it through the night on the big league roster, I will be both shocked and extremely disappointed.
On Deck
The Cubs will look to keep the magic flowing tomorrow when Jason Hammel (1-0, 5.11) faces off against Vance Worley (1-1, 5.84) at 6:05 PM (CST). The game will be televised on CSN.