Bleed Cubbie Blue - Cubs vs. Marlins Monday game threadsA Chicago Cubs Fan Community Since February 9, 2005https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47557/cubbieblue.png2019-05-07T09:30:00-05:00http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/rss/stream/182941832019-05-07T09:30:00-05:002019-05-07T09:30:00-05:002019 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 32
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<figcaption>Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>The one that got away</p> <p id="oeuaOR">This game was a comical mismatch on paper. The <a href="https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/">Cubs</a> came in with the best record in the National League, the <a href="https://www.fishstripes.com/">Marlins</a> with the worst record in baseball. <span>Cole Hamels</span>, the cagey veteran, faced off against a Marlins lineup that had rarely put up even four runs in a game this year. The potent Cubs lineup that has been consistently among the league leaders matched up against young <span>Sandy Alcantara</span> who they’d beaten only a few weeks earlier. </p>
<p id="boXcmj">If all of that hadn’t been enough of a mismatch, the Cubs forced Alcantara to throw 40 pitches in the first inning and moved out to a 3-0 lead. Every team is going to have a clunker once in a while and I’ve been saying for a few days that this team was due for one of them. But how does a team have a clunker AFTER a dominant first inning? Certainly the four double plays the Cubs grounded into didn’t help. They did draw 10 walks in this one. They even had eight hits. Without doing any research, I’ll tell you confidently that most teams that draw 10 walks and have eight hits win the game. Especially ones that had two home runs among the hits. </p>
<p id="GqPmMR">But the Cubs bullpen let them down. Amazingly, after having a sub-2.00 ERA for over a month, there were screams across Twitter as the game was finishing up last night for the Cubs to add a reliever. Never mind that there is at least a chance that they got <span>Carl Edwards Jr.</span>, a key piece of this bullpen, back last night. Because <span>Pedro Strop</span> had a bad outing. This was his second blown save of the season. Since he’s only had six chances, that’s not great to be sure. Pedro has 20 blown saves in five plus years as a Cubs reliever. He’s had 114 holds and 23 saves over that time. But indeed, he’s blown 20 saves. He’s had 373 appearances as a Cub with a 2.71 ERA. </p>
<p id="vq3tLh">Surely, the Cubs should make the panic move and sign Craig Kimbrel. Craig blew five saves last year, his highest total since 2011. That, of course, fails to include the postseason. The postseason in which he allowed seven runs in just 10⅔ innings. Kimbrel’s ERA over three seasons with Boston? 2.44. </p>
<p id="nzBirW">Kimbrel would undoubtedly help this year’s Cubs team. What he’d do to future years with his salary and the extrinsic costs of acquisition? That might not be great. Bottom line is, relievers blow games. The Cubs handed the ball to Pedro with a lead and he failed to convert. On a night when the two teams combined to walk 16 batters, Pedro struggled with his control and walked three batters. He’s now walks five of them this year. </p>
<p id="GXcZm6">What really happened in this game was the Cubs sent two of their three worst players by wRC+ to the plate with the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth. First <span>Albert Almora Jr.</span> then <span>Ben Zobrist</span> hit ground balls at a time when they needed someone to drive a ball and produce a run. The Cubs plated one run after loading the bases with no outs. But that was the chance to take back control of this game. If I was going to make a knee jerk reaction to this game, I’d look at the combo of Ben Zobrist, Almora and <span>Mark Zagunis</span>, who are some combination of the third, fourth and fifth outfielders. At some point the Cubs have to upgrade that group. </p>
<p id="KC41He">Oddly enough, I wrote over the weekend about the Cubs having three 6-5 wins in their seven game wining streak. I pointed out that to that point there had been just 22 such games across the major leagues. Well, the streak ends with a 6-5 loss. Of course it is nothing more than a statistical quirk, but I thought of it when <span>Kris Bryant</span> hit his home run in the ninth inning. </p>
<p id="Q19B53">I’m just going to turn the page and write this one off as one of those frustrating games that every team has several of every year. Certainly, if Pedro suddenly loses his control on a long term basis, there would have to be a corresponding move. But I’m not going to throw a guy in the trash over one bad outing. </p>
<p id="tDLuv4">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 — <a href="https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2018/3/28/17159170/cubs-heroes-and-goats-2018-season-primer">here’s a good explanation of how WPA works</a>) 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.</p>
<p id="OUY2bi"><strong>Game 32, May 6: </strong>Cubs 5, Marlins 6 (19-13)</p>
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<iframe src="https://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=wins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=2019-05-06&team=Cubs&dh=0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="450" width="450" style="border:1px solid black;"></iframe><br><span style="font-size:9pt;">Source: <a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/wins.aspx?date=2019-05-06&team=Cubs&dh=0&season=2019">FanGraphs</a></span>
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<p id="0WubZL"><strong>THREE HEROES:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li id="ZWK9B6">
<strong>Superhero: </strong><span>Anthony Rizzo</span> (.199). Anthony reached base three times in five plate appearances, including a two-run homer in the first inning and a walk. April 21 to present, Anthony has a line of .346/.417/.808 (wRC+ 210) in 60 plate appearances. When he gets hot, he can really stay there for a long time.</li>
<li id="WrWlkO">
<strong>Hero: </strong><span>Brad Brach</span> (.118). Brach was also getting trashed last night on Twitter for his ongoing walk problems. He did walk one, the first one he faced. He did also pitch a scoreless eighth inning. Brach’s walk problems have indeed been perplexing. He also has a 2.57 ERA in his first 14 innings of work. Regression is expected, but perhaps control returning could also happen for a guy who has never really had extreme walk problems?</li>
<li id="F796KT">
<strong>Sidekick: </strong><span>Kyle Schwarber</span> (.100). Kyle had two hits, an RBI and a walk in four plate appearances. In a quieter (and shorter) streak, Kyle has a .357/.457/.571 line (wRC+ 167) over his last 35 plate appearances dating back to April 25.</li>
</ul>
<p id="3wRlkY"><strong>THREE GOATS:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li id="JgH5kl">
<strong>Billy Goat: </strong><span>Pedro Strop</span> (-.682). The biggest stinker of the year (by WPA) for the Cubs. Pedro faced four batters and allowed three walks and a single. </li>
<li id="0gwN04">
<strong>Goat: </strong><span>Javier Baez</span> (-.102). For the ninth consecutive day, Javy reaches a podium. Six of those are in the wrong direction, which would seem to say slump. But, Javy did have a double and a walk last night in five plate appearances. His line over those nine games? .300/.349/.650 (wRC+ 150). Nothing to see here, he’s still playing very well and if anything is having a slight sequencing problem.</li>
<li id="AP1Xb4">
<strong>Kid: </strong>Ben Zobrist (-.091). Ben had a hit and a walk in four plate appearances. The double play he hit into to end the sixth was a back breaker (following Almora’s failure to get a run in with the bases loaded and no outs). </li>
</ul>
<p id="9edQ4t"><strong>WPA Play of the Game: </strong>After Pedro Strop had walked the first two batters of the ninth inning, <span>Neil Walker</span> was sent up to pinch hit. Neil lined a single to right and loaded the bases. (.204)</p>
<p id="6NutLq">*Cubs Play of the Game: Anthony Rizzo’s homer in the first with one out. (.175)</p>
<p id="y7gAkk"><strong>Cumulative Standings:</strong></p>
<p id="1QcGBZ">There will be a separate piece on the standings later today.</p>
<p id="Ig85L5"><strong>Up Next: </strong>The same two teams are back at it today (weather permitting). The Cubs will be looking for their eighth win in nine games. The Marlins will be looking for back to back wins for the first time since April 19 and 20 at home against the <a href="https://www.federalbaseball.com/">Nationals</a>.</p>
<p id="9hgjGw">Each team will send its best pitcher to the mound. For the Cubs that means <span>Jon Lester</span>. Jon is 2-1 with a 1.73 ERA in 26 innings of work. Last time out he was brilliant, going seven innings in Seattle and allowing only one hit and one walk while striking out eight. He faced the Marlins once last year and it didn’t go so well. It was last year’s opening day game when he lasted just 3⅓ innings and allowed seven hits, three walks and four runs (three earned). He only struck out two in that one. He has never faced the Marlins in Wrigley Field. The young Marlins team doesn’t have much history against Jon. Collectively their 40-man roster has a total of 128 plate appearances with 60 of those (.861 OPS) belonging to <span>Curtis Granderson</span> dating back to both of them playing for years in the AL East. Martin Prado has a 1.063 OPS against Jon in just 16 PA. </p>
<p id="uJ0hL1"><span>Caleb Smith</span>, who some of you will remember as a Rule 5 selection of the Cubs in 2016, has been fantastic for the Marlins so far this year. He’s 3-0 with a 2.00 ERA in 36 innings of work. The Marlins have won his last four starts. For a team that’s only won 10 games, that’s a significant statistic. Last time out Caleb beat the <a href="https://www.letsgotribe.com/">Indians</a> with seven innings of four hit, two walk, one run work. He struck out eight. All three of the wins for Caleb came at home. He did face the Cubs in that opening series last year. He threw 5⅓ innings allowing four hits, three walks and one run. He struck out eight. That was the start of that 17 inning game in the opening series. </p>
<p id="WdpETn">The Cubs 40-man roster has a total of only 23 plate appearances against Caleb. <span>Kris Bryant</span> had a double and a homer in three at bats (though he struck out the other one). Caleb has been pretty tough on both righties (.548 OPS) and lefties (.531). </p>
<p id="Jqy3Y2">This has all of the earmarks of a pitchers duel, particularly assuming the game is played in cool, damp early season weather. </p>
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https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2019/5/7/18535183/2019-cubs-heroes-and-goats-game-32Thomas Smith2019-05-07T08:00:00-05:002019-05-07T08:00:00-05:00Marlins 6, Cubs 5: Because baseball
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<figcaption>Quinn Harris-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Never take anything for granted in this game.</p> <p id="brkOdo">I’m going to start the recap of <a href="http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2019_05_06_miamlb_chnmlb_1">the Cubs’ frustrating 6-5 loss to the Marlins</a> Monday evening near the end of this game.</p>
<p id="yv0pPd"><a href="https://cuts.diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2019/2019-05/06/b9f0ae94-fdf1b0ff-4c64b4a9-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4">Specifically, looking at this play [VIDEO].</a></p>
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<p id="99JpwT">Situation: The Marlins have already taken a 5-4 lead after <span>Pedro Strop</span> melted down in a fusillade of walks and had to be replaced by <span>Kyle Ryan</span>. Runners are on second and third and there’s one out. Ryan got <span>Martin Prado</span> to hit a comebacker. Ryan stopped, looked directly at <span>Neil Walker</span>, who was hung out to dry between third and home — and threw to first.</p>
<p id="gRIkD2"><em>Are you kidding me?</em> I’m going to do a Sara’s Snapshot kind of thing here. Call it Al’s Analysis. Look at where Ryan is with the ball and look at where Walker is:</p>
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<p id="dgcVFr">Ryan then turned and threw to first base while Walker calmly scored run number six for the Marlins. <span>Anthony Rizzo</span> then threw to third to retire <span>Rosell Herrera</span> and end the inning, but what on Earth was Ryan thinking? At the very least, you’ve got to get Walker hung up in a rundown between third and home for the second out. Listen to the Marlins announcers on that clip above — even <em>they</em> can’t believe it.</p>
<p id="vZFwsP">And, here’s what Ryan said:</p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">This was the moment Kyle Ryan looked home in 9th, before opting to throw to first base. Walker scored and that sixth Marlins run was the decisive one.<br><br>Said Ryan: "I just froze. Checked him and it ran through my mind, and I froze." <a href="https://t.co/xb6e2ZU0Iu">pic.twitter.com/xb6e2ZU0Iu</a></p>— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLBastian/status/1125621038367301632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 7, 2019</a>
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<p id="XzOGTZ">And that “froze” eventually cost the Cubs the game, because in the bottom of the ninth <span>Kris Bryant</span> <a href="https://cuts.diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2019/2019-05/06/5ef7a912-b217b4e1-999864b1-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4">launched this baseball into orbit [VIDEO]</a>.</p>
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<p id="kX7fJo"></p>
<p id="PLs0su">You can’t see it clearly on the video, but the ball bounced on the very back of the bleacher concourse and onto Waveland Avenue, as Len Kasper correctly noted:</p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Marlins?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Marlins</a> 6 @ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cubs?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cubs</a> 5 [B9-1o]<br>Kris Bryant homers (5): fly ball to LF (solo)<br><br>[ 111mph • 403ft • 32° ]<br>Viz: <a href="https://t.co/BMTQ0pvTq1">pic.twitter.com/BMTQ0pvTq1</a></p>— Home Run Tracker (@DingerTracker) <a href="https://twitter.com/DingerTracker/status/1125603162990231552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 7, 2019</a>
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<p id="nB638n"><span>Anthony Rizzo</span> followed with a single, bringing <span>Javier Baez</span> and <span>Willson Contreras</span> to the plate, both with a chance to redeem that bad ninth inning, but <span>Sergio Romo</span> struck them both out and that was that.</p>
<p id="MLTzqG">Really, the issue here wasn’t even Strop’s horrendous ninth inning — only the second time in his Cubs career he’s walked three in an appearance and the first such appearance he did so without retiring a batter — it was the fact that the Cubs kept putting runners on base and not scoring them.</p>
<p id="rJwTbi">They did fine in the first inning, when <span>Ben Zobrist</span> led off with a single and after KB struck out, <a href="https://cuts.diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2019/2019-05/06/1424a2c3-7406edcd-d2f1e1e2-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4">Rizzo launched one [VIDEO]</a>.</p>
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<p id="2dT5xt"></p>
<p id="rhFz2q">That was the 200th home run of Rizzo’s career, and yes, the ball was retrieved for him. Cubs gameday staff will also await Rizzo’s next homer and get that ball for him, because that one will be his 200th as a Cub (he hit one with the <a href="https://www.gaslampball.com/">Padres</a>).</p>
<p id="HFEPon">Two more hits produced a third Cubs run and this looked like it was going to be a blowout.</p>
<p id="yqZSsO">But no. The Marlins turned double plays in four straight innings — third through sixth — after their starter, <span>Sandy Alcantara</span>, kept walking Cubs hitters, six in all. The Cubs managed to push one further run across in the sixth before that inning ended in a double play, on <a href="https://cuts.diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2019/2019-05/06/68f832d8-59886f54-c2a31917-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4">an RBI single by Kyle Schwarber [VIDEO]</a>.</p>
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<p id="X9JpRP">Carefully note the scorebox in that video. The bases are loaded and there are no outs. After <span>Schwarber</span>’s hit the bases are still loaded and there’s still nobody out... and the Cubs could not score again in that inning.</p>
<p id="Jxo57S">That’s the real issue with this game, not Ryan’s freeze, though that was pretty egregiously bad. The Cubs had 18 baserunners in this game — eight hits and 10 (!) walks — and only scored three times. That’s pretty bad.</p>
<p id="yyKhwE"><span>Cole Hamels</span> threw a decent game, allowing a pair of runs in the second and a game-tying home run to <span>Jon Berti</span> in the sixth. He struck out seven. This one wasn’t Hamels’ fault.</p>
<p id="xmLAlH">Neither is it the fault of <span>Carl Edwards Jr.</span>, who made his return to the big leagues successful with a 1-2-3 seventh. His velocity was decent, touching 94-95, and this outing was a good building block for him.</p>
<p id="Q2yBCb"><span>Brad Brach</span> threw a scoreless eighth, and with Strop entering for the ninth, things looked pretty good. Then Pedro posted one of the worst outings I can ever remember him having. I mean, look at the pitches out of the zone on the three walks, few of them are even close:</p>
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<p id="5eWcTw">And then Ryan had his brain fart, and we’re back to where this recap began.</p>
<p id="NI1xey">I guess I’m kind of sanguine about this loss. Baseball teams play 162 games, and every now and then even good teams are going to have a stinker. One of the things Theo Epstein focused on in the offseason was trying to avoid “trap” games. This, after a seven-game winning streak and a sweep of a very good <a href="https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/">Cardinals</a> club, could be an entire “trap series.” All the Cubs can do is try to re-focus and win the next three against a Marlins team that played good ball when they had to Monday evening. The Cardinals and <a href="https://www.brewcrewball.com/">Brewers</a> both won Monday, so the Cubs drop back to second place, half a game behind St. Louis and half a game ahead of Milwaukee.</p>
<p id="vEdeZL">It was a chilly night at the ballyard and maybe 20,000 of the announced 34,555 showed up. After the seventh-inning stretch most folks bailed and by the time the ninth inning began there couldn’t have been more than 2,000 in the house. Others might have left because of an annoying little rainshower that hit in the third inning and lasted maybe 20 minutes, barely even registering on smartphone radars.</p>
<p id="NZ2X5M"><a href="https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lon=-87.65562225133179&lat=41.94845286479122">The weather isn’t going to be much better</a> Tuesday evening as the teams meet for the second of this four-game series. <span>Jon Lester</span> will start for the Cubs and the Marlins’ best starter to date, <span>Caleb Smith</span>, gets the call for Miami. Game time again is 7:05 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via NBC Sports Chicago Plus.</p>
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2019/5/7/18535129/cubs-marlins-recap-anthony-rizzo-kris-bryant-mlb-scoresAl Yellon2019-05-06T21:05:00-05:002019-05-06T21:05:00-05:00Overflow thread 2: Cubs vs. Marlins, Monday 5/6, 7:05 CT
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<figcaption>Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p id="9l2sgW">——</p>
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2019/5/6/18530138/overflow-thread-2-cubs-vs-marlins-monday-5-6-7-05-ctAl Yellon2019-05-06T20:05:00-05:002019-05-06T20:05:00-05:00Overflow thread 1: Cubs vs. Marlins, Monday 5/6, 7:05 CT
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<figcaption>Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p id="9l2sgW">——</p>
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2019/5/6/18530137/overflow-thread-1-cubs-vs-marlins-monday-5-6-7-05-ctAl Yellon2019-05-06T19:00:00-05:002019-05-06T19:00:00-05:00First pitch thread: Cubs vs. Marlins, Monday 5/6, 7:05 CT
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<figcaption>Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p id="9l2sgW">Go get ‘em, Cole.</p>
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2019/5/6/18530136/first-pitch-thread-cubs-vs-marlins-monday-5-6-7-05-ctAl Yellon2019-05-06T17:00:00-05:002019-05-06T17:00:00-05:00Chicago Cubs vs. Miami Marlins preview, Monday 5/6, 7:05 CT
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<figcaption>Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The Cubs are going for their eighth win in an row.</p> <p id="pjkXJv">This is not the first time a Joe Maddon-managed team has done what this year’s Cubs have — go from a horrendous start and last place into first place in just a few weeks.</p>
<p id="GnEdsI">The 2011 <a href="https://www.draysbay.com/">Rays</a> did the same thing. They began the season with a six-game losing streak and were 1-8 after nine, one game worse than the 2019 Cubs.</p>
<p id="lvEzXy">Then they started winning. Five in a row, one loss, three in a row, two losses, five in a row. (That’s 13-3, if you don’t want to add it up.)</p>
<p id="OuJp4U">After that they won eight of 13 — totaling a run of 21-8 — and were in first place alone after defeating the <a href="https://www.letsgotribe.com/">Indians</a> on May 12. Sound familiar?</p>
<p id="gcZ4rL">They wound up 91-71, the single A.L. wild card that year. They were eliminated in the division series by the <a href="https://www.lonestarball.com/">Rangers</a>, and obviously we hope this year’s Cubs go farther than that. But it’s clear that talented teams managed by Maddon can go on long winning runs like the Cubs are on now. </p>
<p id="2ZTK59">Let’s hope it continues! Now, on to tonight’s opponent.</p>
<p id="klP9xg">The Miami Marlins might be a good team again someday, but right now, they are not.</p>
<p id="FW411i">Their 9-24 record projects to a 44-118 mark, and if you don’t think that’s possible, just ask the 2018 <a href="https://www.camdenchat.com/">Baltimore Orioles</a>.</p>
<p id="kwC8GC">When the Cubs faced the Marlins last month in Miami, they swept them, outscoring them 17-2, shutting them out twice. And the Marlins are a worse team on the road, where they are 3-9 (.250), have been outscored 60-26, and have scored more than four runs once in those 12 games (and that was in <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI201904270.shtml">a 12-9 loss</a> to the <a href="https://www.thegoodphight.com/">Phillies</a> in which they trailed at one point 10-1).</p>
<p id="ieoLTX">As I noted in the series preview, it’s really hard to sweep four-game series. But if there’s any four-game set the Cubs <em>could</em> sweep, it’s this one.</p>
<p id="K1nZwW">Here are today’s particulars.</p>
<p id="3IvQgQ"><a href="https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/">Cubs</a> lineup:</p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Here is tonight's <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cubs?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cubs</a> starting lineup against Miami. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EverybodyIn?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EverybodyIn</a><br><br>Stream on <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCSChicago?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBCSChicago</a>: <a href="https://t.co/rGCuW1XI7C">https://t.co/rGCuW1XI7C</a> <a href="https://t.co/lPa9CxUtFM">pic.twitter.com/lPa9CxUtFM</a></p>— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) <a href="https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1125475990833192963?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2019</a>
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<p id="ubnoNT"><a href="https://www.fishstripes.com/">Marlins</a> lineup:</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Marlins?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Marlins</a> lineup for tonight’s game vs. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cubs?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cubs</a>:<br><br>1) Miguel Rojas (SS)<br>2) Martin Prado (1B)<br>3) Brian Anderson (RF)<br>4) Jorge Alfaro (C)<br>5) Starlin Castro (2B)<br>6) Peter O’Brien (LF)<br>7) Jon Berti (3B)<br>8) Isaac Galloway (CF)<br>9) Sandy Alcantara (P)</p>— Wells Dusenbury (@DuseReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/DuseReport/status/1125501349175660544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2019</a>
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<h2 id="UM0moL">
<span>Cole Hamels</span>, LHP vs. <span>Sandy Alcantara</span>, RHP</h2>
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<cite>Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports</cite>
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<cite>Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports</cite>
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<p id="baJ5rM">Cole Hamels, since his first start of the year in Texas: five starts, 2.27 ERA, 0.979 WHIP, 33 strikeouts in 31⅔ innings.</p>
<p id="yGik7R">That five-start stretch includes seven shutout innings against the Marlins <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIA/MIA201904170.shtml">April 17 in Miami</a>. He allowed three singles and struck out eight.</p>
<p id="ruGni8">I don’t see any reason why Cole couldn’t do that again tonight.</p>
<p id="eGTpmz">Sandy Alcantara was Cole’s opponent in the April 17 game. He allowed seven hits and five runs in six innings, and in two starts since then: 4.35 ERA, 1.742 WHIP, seven (!) walks in 10⅓ innings, three (!) home runs.</p>
<p id="UOvQuL">This could be a good night for the Cubs.</p>
<p id="yROBst">Today’s game is on NBC Sports Chicago Plus. If you have “cut the cord,” NBC Sports Chicago games can be streamed in the Cubs’ market territory via Fubo. <a href="https://fave.co/2Fxe8eQ" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Sign up for Fubo here</a>.</p>
<p id="cxuSIp"><a href="https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/2019/05/06">Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.</a></p>
<p id="Xe5URc"><a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2019_05_06_miamlb_chnmlb_1">MLB.com Gameday</a></p>
<p id="iDRiK8"><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/previews/2019/CHN201905060.shtml">Baseball-reference.com game preview</a></p>
<p id="AScVZw"><span>SB Nation game preview</span></p>
<p id="c01E3n">Please visit our SB Nation <a href="https://www.fishstripes.com/">Marlins</a> site <a href="http://www.fishstripes.com/">Fish Stripes</a>. If you do go there to interact with Marlins fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.</p>
<p id="4R9cxt">The 2019 Game Thread procedure will be the same as the one used in previous years. Here’s how it works.</p>
<p id="uNrOo7">You’ll find the game preview posted separately on the front page, two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).</p>
<p id="Jy7Er2">At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page. The First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads will be published in that stream, as well as the recap. The recap will also live on the front page as a separate post, and at the time I write the recap I will rename the stream “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week) Game Threads” so you can go back and find every thread related to that particular game.</p>
<p id="F5ehVY">You will also be able to find the preview, First Pitch Thread, all the overflow threads and recap in the box marked “Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in <a href="http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/chicago-cubs-game-threads">this section link</a>). They will also appear in the game’s StoryStream as noted above.</p>
<p id="pjBR1E">The First Pitch thread will post at five minutes before game time, then an overflow thread at one hour, two hours and 2:45 after the scheduled game time.</p>
<p id="cWIBoH">Discuss amongst yourselves.</p>
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https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2019/5/6/18529259/chicago-cubs-miami-marlins-preview-mondayAl Yellon