16-29 in the second half. The teams have split six games so far, so the victor of Sunday afternoon’s game will take the season series. His 16 victories and opponents batting average (.185) both lead the National League. For the Cubs, it might have been a preview of a different kind.
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Cincinnati’s Eugenio Suarez singled up the middle with the bases loaded in the ninth inning, rallying the Reds past St. Louis 3-2.
Madison Bumgarner facing Jake Arrieta had an October feel to it, and the Giants performed like they belong in the postseason. In his last seven starts he’s put up a 1.35 ERA with a 26.3 percent strikeout rate and 6.3 percent walk rate. “We just have to go out, execute our game plan and hopefully everybody stays healthy until the end”.
“I didn’t think his stuff was overpowering”, catcher David Ross said.
“You’ve got to get there, but it’s a tough group”, he said. “They just happened to be there”. They’ve had their backs against the wall and been through hard times, but they’re going to keep fighting.
“It’s fun to be a part of, but at the same time I don’t really care”, Lester said.
That was apparent on the biggest plays Saturday.
Tyler Skaggs (3-3) allowed three runs on eight hits in six innings for Los Angeles, striking out seven and walking one.
Washington Nationals hurler Max Scherzer and Cubs breakout star Kyle Hendricks – who leads Major League Baseball in ERA – are among the favorites right now, while some still feel Clayton Kershaw deserves consideration, despite missing two months with a herniated disk in his back, for his historic start to the season. It was reminiscent of Posey’s slide in Miami, although not almost as painful.
“We got to two strikes and he didn’t bite at the curveball, he took it really easy”, Ross said.
Asked to grade the slide, Crawford said, “Compared to Buster’s, or compared to the rest of mine in my career?”
The next slide came on a heads-up play.
“A little bad luck, a little missed execution”, Arrieta said. But the Cubs will take on new looks and unique alignments down the stretch, with the magic number down to 14 and Maddon itching to see what some of these players can do.
Crawford did, stunning the Cubs. He stole third while the Cubs’ defense was in a shift and scored on a wild pitch.
Christian Yelich continued to thrive in the cleanup spot when he homered for the third time in as many games and finished with three hits, three RBIs and two stolen bases as the Miami Marlins beat the New York Mets.
The Cubs used their own hustle to scratch a run off Bumgarner in the fifth inning. “There’s a strong belief that we’re going to play a pretty good game”.
That kicked off a tense hour at Wrigley. Fowler bunted the third pitch down the third-base line, right near the line.
Trailing by a run, pinch hitter Anthony Rizzo led off the ninth inning with a walk and advanced to second on Dexter Fowler’s sacrifice.
Brandon Crawford led off from second base as he watched Eduardo Nez make hard contact in three acts. Panik threw behind Rizzo and Crawford put the tag down for a double play.
Arrieta is 4-1 with a 1.60 ERA in five career starts – four at AT&T Park – against the Giants. Then they smiled. They haven’t been particularly down during this stretch, but they haven’t been all that joyous either. Bumgarner threw some delightfully subtle shade at first base umpire Phil Cuzzi, a longtime Giants nemesis, saying that his balk “was no surprise”. Asked about taking two bags, Crawford smiled and channeled Jarrod Dyson.
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The Giants would prefer to reclaim the lead in the N.L. West and enter as division winners, and not just because the Cubs are a near lock to face the wild-card entrant in an Division Series. “It doesn’t take much to get back on the right track, and hopefully after this we’re getting there”. This might be a awful pick but Cueto as a dog against Lackey doesn’t seem right… “Still, you’ve got to generate some offense”.
