2021 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 20

For a while there, it looked like the Cubs might win that one. I thought that if they won that one, it might have been the most impressive win of the recent streak. Alas, they couldn’t quite hold on to their early 2-0 lead and fell to a 4-3 defeat.

But I was encouraged by the two early runs they put on the board against a very good Brewers starter. I also thought Adbert Alzolay looked good again. He continues to impress in stretches. He hasn’t yet been able to finish the deal and put the whole thing together. But it isn’t hard to see what the Cubs see and what led them to making him their fifth starter over the more experienced Alec Mills. I do believe that Alzolay will find major league success. If he doesn’t make it as a starter, it’s easy to imagine him as a quality arm out of the pen.

This definitely had the feeling of one of those games where you sure wished that the Cubs offense could have carried over some of their runs from the day before. But Brewers pitching is good and it was very unlikely to get knocked around again. The Cubs got contributions offensively from Nico Hoerner and Jason Heyward. If the Cubs can get consistent production from those two, then their lineup and bench get just a little bit longer.

Any way you slice it, the Cubs just couldn’t quite get the job done on Saturday. But they kept it close and were in it until the end. They’ll get another opportunity this afternoon to get back in the win column and finally win a series from the Brewers.

With that, we’ll turn our attention to Heroes and Goats. As you’ll recall, the Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA (Win Probability Added) 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. With that, let’s get to the results.

Game 20, April 24: Brewers 4 at Cubs 3 (10-10)

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Nico Hoerner (.292). 1-2, 2B, 2BB, 2RBI, K
• Hero: Adbert Alzolay (.201). 4⅔IP (18 batters faced), 2H, 2BB, 2R, 7K
• Sidekick: Brandon Workman (.073). IP (5 batters faced), H, BB, 0R, K

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Andrew Chafin (-.309). ⅔IP (5 batters faced), 2H, 0BB, 2R, 0K (L 0-1)
• Goat: Willson Contreras (-.203). 0-5, K
• Kid: Rex Brothers (-.196). ⅓IP (4 batters faced), 0H, 2BB, 0R, K. HBP

WPA Play of the Game: Manny Pina batted with a runner on first and one out with the score tied at two in the seventh inning. He was facing Andrew Chafin and he hit a two-run, home-run that proved to be decisive. (.308)

*Cubs Play of the Game: Nico Hoerner batted with one out and runners at the corner. The score was tied at zero and he was facing Freddy Peralta. He doubled down the third base line, driving in the game’s first two runs. (.148)

Heroes and Goats Cumulative Standings: (Top 3/Bottom 3)

• Craig Kimbrel +9
• Willson Contreras +5.5
• Dillion Maples/Jake Marisnick +4
• Andrew Chafin/Ian Happ -5
• Matt Duffy -5.5
• Zach Davies -8

Up Next: The Cubs and Brewers will meet for the ninth and final time in the month of April. The Cubs will be hoping to win for the fourth time. Jake Arrieta is the scheduled starter. He’s off to a very good start for the Cubs and will be looking to keep that going.