Couple that with two huge missed opportunities in the fifth and seventh innings and you have the recipe for Edwin Jackson as your primary hope for a series victory. You might want to avoid that recipe if you can in the future.
Graphs for Game 99 (courtesy of Fangraphs):
Stats for Game 99:
Pitcher |
IP |
H |
HR |
ER |
BB |
SO |
pLI |
WPA |
C Villanueva |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
0.74 |
.069 |
B Schlitter |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1.93 |
.065 |
J Russell |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0.02 |
.001 |
J Grimm |
1 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0.47 |
-.110 |
T Wada |
4 |
5 |
0 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
0.96 |
-.429 |
Total |
9 |
8 |
0 |
8 |
11 |
7 |
0.82 |
-.404 |
Batter |
AB |
R |
H |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
pLI |
WPA |
L Valbuena |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0.88 |
.270 |
R Sweeney |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1.84 |
.053 |
W Castillo |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.92 |
.018 |
E Bonifacio |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1.07 |
-.001 |
J Baker |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.08 |
-.002 |
N Schierholtz |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0.39 |
-.006 |
T Wada |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.72 |
-.018 |
A Rizzo |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1.43 |
-.023 |
J Lake |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.52 |
-.038 |
C Coghlan |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0.93 |
-.052 |
A Alcantara |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1.5 |
-.066 |
S Castro |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2.29 |
-.232 |
Total |
30 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
6 |
9 |
1.17 |
-.096 |
Writer's Note: The daily selections of the three Heroes and three Goats are based solely on the top three and bottom three WPA scores for the game. The selections are not based on my subjective opinion.
THE THREE HEROES:
- Superhero - Luis Valbuena (.270). Fun fact: The last time he homered -- back on June 28 -- was also the last time he was at the top of the Hero podium.
- Hero - Carlos Villanueva (.069). More like a depressing fact: The last time he was this high on the podium was on April 6, 24 appearances ago.
- Sidekick - Brian Schlitter (.065). Nifty play on the forceout at home in the fifth. JD's commentary made it even better.
THE THREE GOATS:
- Billy Goat - Tsuyoshi Wada (-.429). Couldn't find the strike zone most of the night, and when he did bad things tended to happen.
- Goat - Starlin Castro (-.232). Four chances with runners on and couldn't make anything out of them.
- Kid - Justin Grimm (-.110). Any hope that remained -- no matter how fleeting -- was essentially squashed after he was done.
UPDATED RANKINGS THROUGH GAME 99 (Changes in Bold, Notations Below):
x - Player not on 25-man roster.
y - Player not on 40-man roster.
z - Player no longer with Cubs.
Heroes |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
Anthony Rizzo |
14 |
8 |
8 |
66 |
Starlin Castro |
12.5 |
7.5 |
6.5 |
59 |
Luis Valbuena |
10 |
8 |
3 |
49 |
Justin Ruggiano |
5.5 |
7.5 |
3 |
34.5 |
Welington Castillo |
7 |
4 |
3 |
32 |
z-Jason Hammel |
5 |
4 |
5 |
28 |
z-Jeff Samardzija |
6 |
2 |
2 |
24 |
Nate Schierholtz |
3 |
6 |
3 |
24 |
Jake Arrieta |
5 |
3 |
0 |
21 |
Travis Wood |
4 |
4 |
1 |
21 |
x-Mike Olt |
3 |
3 |
6 |
21 |
Chris Coghlan |
3 |
5 |
1 |
20 |
Emilio Bonifacio |
1 |
8 |
1 |
20 |
Junior Lake |
3 |
3 |
4 |
19 |
Brian Schlitter |
1 |
4.5 |
6 |
18 |
y-Darwin Barney |
3.5 |
2.5 |
1 |
16.5 |
John Baker |
1 |
4 |
3 |
14 |
Edwin Jackson |
4 |
0 |
1 |
13 |
Ryan Sweeney |
0 |
3 |
4.5 |
10.5 |
x-Ryan Kalish |
3 |
0 |
1 |
10 |
Hector Rondon |
0 |
1 |
7.5 |
9.5 |
Arismendy Alcantara |
2 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
Carlos Villanueva |
0 |
2 |
4 |
8 |
James Russell |
0 |
1 |
6 |
8 |
Wesley Wright |
0.5 |
1.5 |
2 |
6.5 |
Neil Ramirez |
0 |
0.5 |
5.5 |
6.5 |
Justin Grimm |
0 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
Pedro Strop |
0 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
x-Zac Rosscup |
0 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
Kyle Hendricks |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
x-Dallas Beeler |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Tsuyoshi Wada |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
x-Blake Parker |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
Goats |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
Nate Schierholtz |
5 |
11 |
7 |
44 |
Starlin Castro |
4 |
7.5 |
14 |
41 |
Luis Valbuena |
5 |
6.5 |
7.5 |
35.5 |
Travis Wood |
8 |
3 |
2 |
32 |
Junior Lake |
5 |
6 |
5 |
32 |
Edwin Jackson |
8 |
3 |
1 |
31 |
Anthony Rizzo |
2 |
9 |
6 |
30 |
x-Mike Olt |
5 |
3 |
6 |
27 |
Welington Castillo |
2 |
7.5 |
5.5 |
26.5 |
Justin Grimm |
7 |
0.5 |
2.5 |
24.5 |
z-Jason Hammel |
7 |
1 |
0 |
23 |
Emilio Bonifacio |
1 |
8 |
4 |
23 |
Carlos Villanueva |
5 |
1 |
3 |
20 |
Hector Rondon |
5 |
1 |
1 |
18 |
Justin Ruggiano |
2 |
5 |
2 |
18 |
Ryan Sweeney |
3 |
3 |
1.5 |
16.5 |
z-Jeff Samardzija |
4 |
1 |
1 |
15 |
James Russell |
2 |
2 |
5 |
15 |
y-Darwin Barney |
0 |
6 |
3 |
15 |
Chris Coghlan |
2 |
2 |
3 |
13 |
John Baker |
2 |
1 |
4 |
12 |
Pedro Strop |
2 |
2 |
1 |
11 |
Brian Schlitter |
2 |
2 |
1 |
11 |
Wesley Wright |
2 |
1 |
2 |
10 |
z-Jose Veras |
2 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
Jake Arrieta |
2 |
0 |
3 |
9 |
x-Ryan Kalish |
1 |
2 |
2 |
9 |
y-Eli Whiteside |
1 |
0 |
3 |
6 |
x-Dallas Beeler |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
Neil Ramirez |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Tsuyoshi Wada |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Arismendy Alcantara |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
x-Chris Rusin |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
Kyle Hendricks |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
x-Blake Parker |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Overall |
Hero |
Goat |
+/- |
Anthony Rizzo |
66 |
30 |
36 |
Starlin Castro |
59 |
41 |
18 |
Justin Ruggiano |
34.5 |
18 |
16.5 |
Luis Valbuena |
49 |
35.5 |
13.5 |
Jake Arrieta |
21 |
9 |
12 |
z-Jeff Samardzija |
24 |
15 |
9 |
Chris Coghlan |
20 |
13 |
7 |
Brian Schlitter |
18 |
11 |
7 |
Arismendy Alcantara |
9 |
2 |
7 |
Welington Castillo |
32 |
26.5 |
5.5 |
z-Jason Hammel |
28 |
23 |
5 |
x-Zac Rosscup |
4 |
0 |
4 |
Neil Ramirez |
6.5 |
3 |
3.5 |
John Baker |
14 |
12 |
2 |
y-Darwin Barney |
16.5 |
15 |
1.5 |
x-Ryan Kalish |
10 |
9 |
1 |
Kyle Hendricks |
3 |
2 |
1 |
x-Blake Parker |
2 |
1 |
1 |
x-Dallas Beeler |
3 |
4 |
-1 |
Tsuyoshi Wada |
2 |
3 |
-1 |
x-Chris Rusin |
0 |
2 |
-2 |
Emilio Bonifacio |
20 |
23 |
-3 |
Wesley Wright |
6.5 |
10 |
-3.5 |
Pedro Strop |
6 |
11 |
-5 |
x-Mike Olt |
21 |
27 |
-6 |
Ryan Sweeney |
10.5 |
16.5 |
-6 |
y-Eli Whiteside |
0 |
6 |
-6 |
James Russell |
8 |
15 |
-7 |
Hector Rondon |
9.5 |
18 |
-8.5 |
z-Jose Veras |
0 |
9 |
-9 |
Travis Wood |
21 |
32 |
-11 |
Carlos Villanueva |
8 |
20 |
-12 |
Junior Lake |
19 |
32 |
-13 |
Edwin Jackson |
13 |
31 |
-18 |
Justin Grimm |
6 |
24.5 |
-18.5 |
Nate Schierholtz |
24 |
44 |
-20 |
Valbuena rides the longball to the top of the Heroes, while Wada sees for the first time what the Goat podium looks like.