Unfortunately, the defensible game plan from Craig Counsell going into this game today (starting Andrew Kittredge) did not work out, as the opener allowed a manufactured first-inning run (a couple of singles, a double steal, and a sac fly). And unfortunately, neither did the nearly indefensible decision to leave Shota Imanaga in to face Manny Machado for the second time with a runner on base (Machado immediately DESTROYED a two-run homer).
Frankly, you could’ve convinced me to take Imanaga out before that inning even began (with the top of the order, including Fernando Tatis Jr., due up). But it became especially surprising once it got to Machado. The entire point of carrying all those extra right-handed swing/long men on the playoff roster was so that you could be overly aggressive in a game like this/moment like that.
The Cubs were already down a run, and whether it was a dominant-looking Dylan Cease or the even more dominant Padres bullpen, a larger deficit just did not seem like something this Cubs lineup was going to overcome today.
Speaking of the Padres’ pitching, Dylan Cease looked excellent in his 3.2 innings of work, and he probably could’ve gone a lot longer than he did. But Mike Shildt was crazy-aggressive with his pull, intentionally walking Carson Kelly, with Seiya Suzuki on second base, and then switching to the lefty Adrian Morejon, who immediately got PCA to ground out to first. Morejon wound up going ANOTHER two scoreless innings after that, finishing with seven up, seven down in total. Brutal.
Oh, and after Morejon was finally pulled, the Cubs had the (dis)pleasure of facing Mason Miller, throwing a billion miles per hour, for 1.2 innings. In fact, Miller hit 104.5 MPH on one pitch, which was the fastest postseason pitch in the pitch-tracking era. Even if the offense hadn’t looked almost wholly lifeless before that, they would have after. He was electric, as he often is. And the only thing that didn’t go his way was hitting Michael Busch after striking out five straight.
Once Miller came out, with two outs in the 8th, Padres closer Robert Suarez came in to face Nico Hoerner. And for the second time of the day, Hoerner absolutely SMOKED the ball … with horrible luck, as Tatis Jr. tracked down what looked like a line-drive double into the right field corner.
But even if it weren’t for a few hard-luck outcomes for Hoerner, Busch, and other Cubs hitters today, they didn’t come close to accomplishing enough on their own. They kept working their way into full counts, but could never turn anything into anything. It was a very frustrating afternoon, and exactly the sort of game script you need to avoid against a team like the Padres/bullpen like that.
It was also another ROUGH day for a few key Cubs bats. Obviously, with a sample size of two games (against pitching like this), anyone can look bad.
But my goodness, this is ugly.
Ian Happ: 0-8, 5KsKyle Tucker: 1-7, 2KsPete Crow-Armstrong: 0-6, 5Ks
Alas. We’ve got ourselves an elimination game at Wrigley Field tomorrow. It’ll likely be Jameson Taillon vs Yu Darvish, with the postseason on the line.
Full Box Score.
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