Cubs Cut Short by Rain, Still Gain Ground on Giants

I suppose a lesser man might choose to question the logic of starting a baseball game when the forecast called for almost immediate, constant rain, but I am bigger than that. I won’t waste my time whining about the entire evening I spent flipping between So You Think You Can Dance and Rain Delay Theater. Nor will I lament the resumption of the game after a stoppage of more than two hours, only to see it delayed again shortly thereafter.

No, I’m going to instead lament the fact that Jon Lester was essentially skipped in the rotation despite pitching less than two complete innings. The pitch count wasn’t great, but Lester had thrown 18 of 31 for strikes and had K’d 3 batters and gotten to 2 strikes on another before the first delay fouled things up. When play finally resumed, Lester was lifted for…Rafael Soriano? I had the strangest mixture of different thoughts upon hearing this, like some kind of psychological fusion dish to fuel my appetite for angst.

On one hand, I feared the inevitable Cubs implosion that would accompany this outing, while at the same time relishing the absurdity of the situation. But just as I was starting to question the move, I started to think maybe Joe Maddon was just trying to burn Soriano for the next couple games. Maybe he was taking a calculated risk that the game would be postponed and that the inevitable damage would be mitigated. Or maybe Joe was just being Joe.

At this point, I think we can all agree that the best Rafael Soriano appearance is one that didn’t technically happen. In other news about baseball players Cubs fans aren’t very fond of, the Braves’ AJ Pierzynski hit a home run in the 9th inning to tie the game at 7 after the Giants had once held a 6-0 lead. The Braves went on to win in extras, which means the Cubs now have a half-game lead on them for the second Wild Card spot.

Maybe something good can come from rain delays/postponements after all. Maybe even something great.