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As has been the case with previous two-game recaps, I won't be including each game's stats here in the interest of keeping the piece a bit shorter. The stats can can be found at the included Fangraphs links for those that are interested.
Also, no polls today, but feel free to leave your votes in the comments.
Graphs for Game 127 (courtesy of Fangraphs):
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, GAME 127:
- Superhero - Anthony Rizzo (.095). Breaks through the plus-50 barrier in grand fashion with his blast to center.
- Hero - Matt Szczur (.023). Bonus points for being the only Cub to reach base twice against Clayton Kershaw. (No, there are not actually bonus points.)
- Sidekick - Clayton Richard (.009). And once again pitching a scoreless inning in a three-run deficit earns a podium spot.
THE THREE GOATS, GAME 127:
- Billy Goat - Jason Hammel (-.172). Everything was good until that sixth inning where everyone forgot how to throw the ball.
- Goat - Miguel Montero (-.080). Including him, but he's not here because of his error. Although it's probably karma evening things out.
- Kid - Chris Denorfia (-.077). Hard to believe, but he and Montero were the only two batters to leave a man on base. Well, against Kershaw maybe it's not as hard to believe.
And, for Saturday's game...
Graphs for Game 128 (courtesy of Fangraphs):
THE THREE HEROES, GAME 128:
- Superhero - Kris Bryant (.082). Earned more points on the night for advancing on a wild pitch and getting plunked than he did for actually hitting the ball, but sometimes that's the way things work out. And then you send out a couple of fruit baskets instead of one.
- Hero - Tommy La Stella (.067). Primarily due to his table-setting effort in the fifth which was followed by Mat Latos trying to convince everyone that he wasn't on the mound when he faked to nobody in particular.
- Sidekick - Miguel Montero (.040). This is the first time in longer than I can remember that two podium spots were earned in fruit-basket fashion, as Montero ends up here also as a result of getting hit by Jim Johnson.
THE THREE GOATS, GAME 128:
- Billy Goat - Jon Lester (-.357). Oh, that seventh inning. That dreadful, dreadful seventh.
- Goat - Kyle Schwarber (-.119). Had runners on in all five of his plate appearances but could only muster up a walk.
- Kid - Anthony Rizzo (-.114). For those of you who might be asking at this point "Wait, where the heck is Addison Russell??"... he avoided the Goats by way of the previously mentioned balk, leaving Rizzo's 0-for-4 to take the spot in his place.
Heroes |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
Anthony Rizzo |
15 |
22.5 |
7.5 |
97.5 |
Kris Bryant |
15 |
11 |
7 |
74 |
Dexter Fowler |
10 |
5 |
13 |
53 |
Jake Arrieta |
13.5 |
4 |
0.5 |
49 |
x-Jorge Soler |
6 |
11 |
3 |
43 |
Miguel Montero |
9.5 |
5.5 |
3 |
42.5 |
Chris Coghlan |
8 |
3 |
8 |
38 |
Starlin Castro |
4 |
7 |
11 |
37 |
Addison Russell |
6 |
5.5 |
7.5 |
36.5 |
Jon Lester |
7 |
4 |
2 |
31 |
Jason Hammel |
7 |
4 |
0 |
29 |
Kyle Schwarber |
7 |
2 |
4 |
29 |
Hector Rondon |
0 |
9 |
8.5 |
26.5 |
Travis Wood |
2 |
6 |
3.5 |
21.5 |
Kyle Hendricks |
5 |
1 |
2 |
19 |
Jonathan Herrera |
1 |
5 |
2 |
15 |
Pedro Strop |
1 |
1 |
8.5 |
13.5 |
Matt Szczur |
2 |
2 |
2.5 |
12.5 |
Chris Denorfia |
1 |
2 |
4.5 |
11.5 |
x-Jason Motte |
0 |
2.5 |
5.5 |
10.5 |
Justin Grimm |
0 |
2 |
6.5 |
10.5 |
Zac Rosscup |
2 |
0 |
3.5 |
9.5 |
James Russell |
0 |
3 |
1.5 |
7.5 |
x-Junior Lake |
1 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
Clayton Richard |
1 |
0 |
3 |
6 |
x-Tsuyoshi Wada |
1 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
x-Taylor Teagarden |
1 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
Tommy La Stella |
1 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
x-Brian Schlitter |
0 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
x-Phil Coke |
1 |
0 |
0.5 |
3.5 |
x-Edwin Jackson |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
Dan Haren |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
x-Welington Castillo |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
x-Arismendy Alcantara |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
x-David Ross |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
x-Mike Baxter |
0 |
0 |
1.5 |
1.5 |
Tommy Hunter |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
x-Neil Ramirez |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
x-Yoervis Medina |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Goats |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
Starlin Castro |
10 |
9 |
14 |
62 |
Dexter Fowler |
9 |
8.5 |
8.5 |
52.5 |
x-Jorge Soler |
6 |
12 |
10 |
52 |
Addison Russell |
2 |
17 |
9 |
49 |
Kris Bryant |
7 |
9 |
8 |
47 |
Anthony Rizzo |
7 |
9 |
7 |
46 |
Chris Coghlan |
3 |
9 |
15 |
42 |
Miguel Montero |
3 |
8 |
8 |
33 |
Kyle Hendricks |
9 |
2 |
1 |
32 |
Pedro Strop |
8 |
2 |
0 |
28 |
Kyle Schwarber |
3 |
6 |
4 |
25 |
Jon Lester |
7 |
1 |
1 |
24 |
Jason Hammel |
5 |
4 |
0 |
23 |
Chris Denorfia |
3 |
3 |
7 |
22 |
x-David Ross |
2 |
4.5 |
5.5 |
20.5 |
Hector Rondon |
5 |
2 |
0 |
19 |
Justin Grimm |
2 |
4 |
3 |
17 |
Jake Arrieta |
5 |
0 |
1 |
16 |
Travis Wood |
3 |
2 |
3 |
16 |
Jonathan Herrera |
1 |
2 |
6 |
13 |
x-Tsuyoshi Wada |
4 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
Zac Rosscup |
3 |
1 |
1 |
12 |
x-Jason Motte |
1 |
4 |
0 |
11 |
x-Brian Schlitter |
3 |
0 |
1 |
10 |
Dan Haren |
2 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
x-Edwin Jackson |
2 |
1 |
0 |
8 |
x-Mike Baxter |
2 |
1 |
0 |
8 |
x-Welington Castillo |
1 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
x-Rafael Soriano |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
x-Dallas Beeler |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
James Russell |
1 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
x-Junior Lake |
1 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
Clayton Richard |
0 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
Matt Szczur |
0 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
x-Mike Olt |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
Tommy Hunter |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
x-Donn Roach |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
x-Gonzalez Germen |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
x-Phil Coke |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
Tommy La Stella |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
x-Arismendy Alcantara |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
x-Neil Ramirez |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Overall |
Hero |
Goat |
+/- |
Anthony Rizzo |
97.5 |
46 |
51.5 |
Jake Arrieta |
49 |
16 |
33 |
Kris Bryant |
74 |
47 |
27 |
Miguel Montero |
42.5 |
33 |
9.5 |
Hector Rondon |
26.5 |
19 |
7.5 |
Matt Szczur |
12.5 |
5 |
7.5 |
Jon Lester |
31 |
24 |
7 |
Jason Hammel |
29 |
23 |
6 |
Travis Wood |
21.5 |
16 |
5.5 |
x-Taylor Teagarden |
5 |
0 |
5 |
Kyle Schwarber |
29 |
25 |
4 |
Tommy La Stella |
5 |
1 |
4 |
James Russell |
7.5 |
5 |
2.5 |
Jonathan Herrera |
15 |
13 |
2 |
x-Junior Lake |
6 |
5 |
1 |
Clayton Richard |
6 |
5 |
1 |
x-Arismendy Alcantara |
2 |
1 |
1 |
x-Yoervis Medina |
1 |
0 |
1 |
Dexter Fowler |
53 |
52.5 |
0.5 |
x-Phil Coke |
3.5 |
3 |
0.5 |
x-Neil Ramirez |
1 |
1 |
0 |
x-Jason Motte |
10.5 |
11 |
-0.5 |
Zac Rosscup |
9.5 |
12 |
-2.5 |
Tommy Hunter |
1 |
4 |
-3 |
x-Donn Roach |
0 |
3 |
-3 |
x-Gonzalez Germen |
0 |
3 |
-3 |
Chris Coghlan |
38 |
42 |
-4 |
x-Mike Olt |
0 |
4 |
-4 |
x-Brian Schlitter |
5 |
10 |
-5 |
x-Edwin Jackson |
3 |
8 |
-5 |
x-Welington Castillo |
2 |
7 |
-5 |
x-Dallas Beeler |
0 |
6 |
-6 |
x-Rafael Soriano |
0 |
6 |
-6 |
Justin Grimm |
10.5 |
17 |
-6.5 |
x-Mike Baxter |
1.5 |
8 |
-6.5 |
x-Tsuyoshi Wada |
5 |
12 |
-7 |
Dan Haren |
2 |
9 |
-7 |
x-Jorge Soler |
43 |
52 |
-9 |
Chris Denorfia |
11.5 |
22 |
-10.5 |
Addison Russell |
36.5 |
49 |
-12.5 |
Kyle Hendricks |
19 |
32 |
-13 |
Pedro Strop |
13.5 |
28 |
-14.5 |
x-David Ross |
2 |
20.5 |
-18.5 |
Starlin Castro |
37 |
62 |
-25 |