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Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 71

The final two innings of Thursday's game were all that was needed to determine the three members of the Goat podium in the Cubs' 4-2 loss.

By Russ La Croix
"Just one more strike. That's all I needed was one more."
"Just one more strike. That's all I needed was one more."
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

I'd probably have the same look on my face if I made a play like that.  Which would never happen in a million lifetimes, but that's a different story.

Graphs for Game 71 (courtesy of Fangraphs):

Game 71 Chart 2016

Stats for Game 71:

Pitcher

IP

H

HR

ER

BB

SO

pLI

WPA

J Lester

7

5

2

2

3

7

0.94

.042

P Strop

1

2

0

2

1

1

1.61

-.328

Total

8

7

2

4

4

8

1.07

-.286

Batter

AB

R

H

HR

RBI

BB

SO

pLI

WPA

D Ross

3

1

1

1

1

1

2

2.07

.246

J Heyward

4

1

1

0

0

0

0

1.36

.039

A Russell

4

0

1

0

0

0

1

1.64

-.006

K Bryant

2

0

1

0

1

1

1

1.36

-.008

A Almora

4

0

1

0

0

0

0

1.31

-.013

J Baez

4

0

1

0

0

0

1

1.32

-.016

J Lester

2

0

0

0

0

0

1

0.78

-.038

M Szczur

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

1.83

-.046

W Contreras

4

0

1

0

0

0

2

1.4

-.102

C Coghlan

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

6.35

-.131

B Zobrist

4

0

0

0

0

1

1

1.78

-.140

Total

33

2

7

1

2

3

11

1.64

-.214

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 - David Ross (.246). Did his best to get the Cubs back in it with his homer to left in the eighth, and he also had a clutch play in the fourth when he threw out Christian Yelich trying to steal third. But that wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth, though... you can tell from the audio feeds that Ross wasn't happy with letting that one get away.
  • Hero - Jon Lester (.042). This game was the first this season in which Lester gave up two homers; the last time that he did was on September 20, 2015.
  • Sidekick - Jason Heyward (.039). The only Cub left on the night with a positive WPA, and it comes with a big fruit basket attached for the error by Marcell Ozuna that let Heyward get to third.

THE THREE GOATS:

  • Billy Goat - Pedro Strop (-.328). Got the first two outs and two strikes on the third out... and then the wheels came off.
  • Goat - Ben Zobrist (-.140). For the second time in four days he had the chance to be the hero in the final at-bat but came up short...
  • Kid - Chris Coghlan (-.131). ...and just before that, Coghlan had his own opportunity and whiffed with the bases loaded.

RANKINGS THROUGH GAME 71: Lester climbs to within one point of the lead at the top of the chart whle Heyward tries to get himself back into the minus-20 club.

Heroes

1st

2nd

3rd

Total

Anthony Rizzo

6

8.5

6.5

41.5

Addison Russell

5

7

4

33

Jon Lester

8

3

1

31

Jake Arrieta

9

1

0

29

Ben Zobrist

6

2

5.5

27.5

Kris Bryant

2.5

6.5

7

27.5

Dexter Fowler

1

3

11

20

Jason Hammel

4

1

4

18

Miguel Montero

3.5

3

1.5

18

Kyle Hendricks

4

2

1

17

Jorge Soler

2

3

5

17

John Lackey

5

0

0

15

Travis Wood

4

1

1

15

David Ross

2

3

1

13

Javier Baez

2

2

3

13

Jason Heyward

0

6

1

13

Tommy La Stella

1

3

3.5

12.5

Hector Rondon

2

2

2

12

Pedro Strop

1

2

2

9

Albert Almora Jr.

2

1

0

8

Adam Warren

0

2.5

1.5

6.5

Trevor Cahill

0

3

0

6

Justin Grimm

0

0.5

3.5

4.5

Willson Contreras

1

0

0

3

Chris Coghlan

0

1

1

3

Clayton Richard

0

1

1

3

Matt Szczur

0

1

1

3

Ryan Kalish

0

1

0

2

Tim Federowicz

0

1

0

2

Gerardo Concepcion

0

0

1

1

Neil Ramirez

0

0

1

1

Spencer Patton

0

0

1

1

Goats

1st

2nd

3rd

Total

Addison Russell

9

9

5

50

Jason Heyward

8

9

1

43

Kris Bryant

6.5

8.5

5

41.5

Dexter Fowler

8

6

5

41

Anthony Rizzo

4

8

2.5

30.5

Ben Zobrist

3.5

6.5

7

30.5

Jorge Soler

4

3

9

27

Javier Baez

3

3

6

21

Adam Warren

4

1

0

14

Pedro Strop

3

2

1

14

David Ross

1

2

3.5

10.5

Tommy La Stella

2

0

4

10

Miguel Montero

1

3

1

10

Kyle Hendricks

2

1

1

9

Travis Wood

2

0

1

7

Albert Almora Jr.

1

1

2

7

Justin Grimm

1

1

2

7

John Lackey

2

0

0

6

Trevor Cahill

1

1

1

6

Clayton Richard

1

0

3

6

Jason Hammel

0

2

2

6

Matt Szczur

0

2

2

6

Hector Rondon

1

1

0

5

Chris Coghlan

1

0

1

4

Jon Lester

1

0

1

4

Tim Federowicz

1

0

1

4

Spencer Patton

0

1

0

2

Jake Arrieta

0

0

1

1

Kyle Schwarber

0

0

1

1

Neil Ramirez

0

0

1

1

Willson Contreras

0

0

1

1

Overall

Hero

Goat

+/-

Jake Arrieta

29

1

28

Jon Lester

31

4

27

Jason Hammel

18

6

12

Anthony Rizzo

41.5

30.5

11

John Lackey

15

6

9

Miguel Montero

18

10

8

Kyle Hendricks

17

9

8

Travis Wood

15

7

8

Hector Rondon

12

5

7

David Ross

13

10.5

2.5

Tommy La Stella

12.5

10

2.5

Willson Contreras

3

1

2

Ryan Kalish

2

0

2

Albert Almora Jr.

8

7

1

Gerardo Concepcion

1

0

1

Trevor Cahill

6

6

0

Neil Ramirez

1

1

0

Chris Coghlan

3

4

-1

Spencer Patton

1

2

-1

Kyle Schwarber

0

1

-1

Tim Federowicz

2

4

-2

Justin Grimm

4.5

7

-2.5

Ben Zobrist

27.5

30.5

-3

Clayton Richard

3

6

-3

Matt Szczur

3

6

-3

Pedro Strop

9

14

-5

Adam Warren

6.5

14

-7.5

Javier Baez

13

21

-8

Jorge Soler

17

27

-10

Kris Bryant

27.5

41.5

-14

Addison Russell

33

50

-17

Dexter Fowler

20

41

-21

Jason Heyward

13

43

-30

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