2019 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 76

We’ll try to keep this short but there ain’t gonna be anything sweet about it. The Cubs lost 10-2 in a game that wasn’t actually that close. Oof.

On any given day, any team can beat any other one on any given day in baseball. It isn’t all that unusual to see the worst team in baseball finish the year with one or more wins against the team with the best record. It’s a hard game to just roll every day.

This game doesn’t even qualify under that category. The Mets are an injury depleted, otherwise near average team. But on Saturday, they steamrolled the Cubs. The Mets have won two straight and will look for a third win in four tries on Sunday. We’ll talk more about that one later.

With that, we turn our attention to yesterday’s game as we look at what WPA had to say about Heroes and Goats. As always the Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA (Win Probability Added — here’s a good explanation of how WPA works) and are not in any way subjective. Many days WPA will not tell the story of what happened, but often it can give at least a glimpse to who rose to the occasion in a high leverage moment or who didn’t get the job done in that moment. Also note, for the purposes of Heroes and Goats, we ignore the results of pitchers while they are batting and hitters while they are pitching. With that, we get to the results.

Game 76, June 22: Cubs 2, Mets 10 (41-35)

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Albert Almora Jr. (.057). He reached on an error in the second inning in one of only two plate appearances.
• Hero: Kris Bryant (.051) On safely once in three at bats with a single.
• Sidekick: Jason Heyward (.034). Jason had three hits in four at bats. He scored a run.

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Jose Quintana (-.353). Jose had a nightmarish day. He lasted 4⅓ innings and allowed no hits, two walks and eight runs.
• Goat: Javier Baez (-.116). On a day where the Cubs emptied their bench, Baez was hitless in two tries.
• Kid: Victor Caratini (-.064). One strikeout in three appearances.

WPA Play of the Game: Jeff McNeil (.142). McNeil’s two run single in the second with two outs made it 3-0 and the Mets never looked back.

*Cubs Play of the Game: Javier Baez (-.110). Javy grounded into a first inning double play with runners on first and second and no outs.

Cumulative Standings Top/Bottom 3:

• Kris Bryant 16
• Anthony Rizzo 13
• Cole Hamels 8
• Yu Darvish/Carl Edwards Jr. -9
• Jason Heyward -17

Up Next: The Cubs will try to avoid a third straight loss while the Mets seek a third straight win. The Cubs will look to their hottest pitcher, Cole Hamels. Cole is 6-2 with a 2.85 ERA on the season in 91⅔ innings. Last time out, he received a no-decision when he allowed the White Sox six hits, two walks and one run. Overall in his last seven starts, he has a 3-2 record with a 2.57 ERA. Current Mets have 204 plate appearances against Cole and Robinson Cano leads the way with .209/.419/.419 in 43 PA.

The Mets counter with Jacob deGrom. Jacob is 4-6 despite a 3.26 ERA. de Grom has 1-2 record and a 3.26 ERA over his last 44 innings overall. Last time out, he received a no decision in 2018. Last time out, he was a winner, throwing 8⅓ innings and allowing five hits, no walks and two runs. He struck out 10. Anthony Rizzo leads the way with a 1.089 PA in a 25 plate appearances.

This could be another tough one.