Bleed Cubbie Blue - Cubs vs. Cardinals Friday game threadsA Chicago Cubs Fan Community Since February 9, 2005https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47557/cubbieblue.png2019-09-21T09:00:00-05:00http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/rss/stream/206344982019-09-21T09:00:00-05:002019-09-21T09:00:00-05:002019 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 154
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<figcaption>Quinn Harris-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Cubs skid continues in 2-1 loss</p> <p id="qEzUU9">In my day job, I do a fair amount of negotiating. Every now and then, in the middle of the negotiations, the other party breaks off the discussion and then the negotiation basically just ends. It’s frustrating because, historically at least, one side or the other would eventually say I’m willing to agree to X and if I don’t get it, I’ll walk away. It’s not a particularly friendly way to negotiate and doesn’t build rapport, but at least then I know the stakes and can decide if I want to meet their demands. </p>
<p id="uo0Jqy">This <a href="https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/">Cubs</a> season feels more and more like that. We all circled the final seven games against the <a href="https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/">Cardinals</a> and thought that they would be the pivotal games of the year. That seemed obvious. Two good teams, two long-time rivals. And then add on top the obvious, those final three in St. Louis are literally the final three games on the schedule. So if either team went down to the wire, the other team would have a chance to foil those efforts. </p>
<p id="8MMiUW">That’s where the analogy comes in. It seemed obvious that the seven games with the Cardinals were the most important ones of the season. (If you want to suggest that baseball is 162 games and none of them are that much more important than any of the others, I totally buy that argument, and in fact often try to sell it. But bear with me here). The most important seven games were the earlier ones against the <a href="https://www.brewcrewball.com/">Brewers</a>. On the morning of August 30, before the Cubs and Brewers would meet for a similar seven games in 10 days, the Cubs were in second place, 1½ games out of first. The Brewers were a distant 5½ games back. </p>
<p id="jQTfKJ">Those first three games were in Chicago. The Brewers had just lost two out of three to the Cardinals in Milwaukee and were in trouble. The Cubs won the opener 7-1 and moved within a game of first while the Brewers moved to six back. Perhaps with another win or two, the Cubs could have pushed the Brewers to the point of no return. Alas, the Cubs didn’t score another run for the entire weekend and the Brewers won the final two games and moved within three games of the Cubs, despite remaining six back of the red hot Cardinals. </p>
<p id="IdsuZC">The following weekend, the Cubs again took the first game of the series in Milwaukee with a 10 run outburst in the first game. The Cub lead over the Brewers was back to five games. The Cubs did manage eight more runs over the final three games, better than the first weekend. But the results were three more losses. They were still 6½ games behind the Cardinals at the end of that series, but they’d moved to within two games of the Cubs. </p>
<p id="4GwM9I">Those seven games were where the Cubs playoff hopes derailed. Had they won five of seven like the Brewers had, they would have added three games onto the Brewer deficit, rather than losing three games. Instead of two games back of the Brewers, the Cubs would be four games ahead of them. With so little time, the Brewers season would be on life support. </p>
<p id="Iq3Zds">Could the Cubs have done some things differently and flipped the results in those games? Maybe. Maybe not. But I sure bet they’d like to have realized then the massive importance of those games. </p>
<p id="aIbGBQ">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="nAtHbv"><strong>Game 154, September 20: </strong>Cubs 1, Cardinals 2 (82-72)</p>
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<iframe src="https://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=livewins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=2019-09-20&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/livewins.aspx?date=2019-09-20&team=Cubs&dh=0&season=2019">FanGraphs</a></span>
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<p id="23wzqf"><strong>THREE HEROES:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li id="A5XfaU">
<strong>Superhero: </strong><span>Alec Mills</span> (.250). Perhaps Mills would get exposed if he got a lot more time at the MLB level. But I, for one, am intrigued to see more of him. Mills threw 4⅔ innings and allowed two hits, two walks and no runs. On the season, he’s now thrown 31 MLB innings and has a 2.90 ERA (4.31 FIP). Clearly, that FIP says regression is imminent. He has an 87.9% strand rate that is totally not sustainable. But I’m intrigued to say the least.</li>
<li id="n8AivC">
<strong>Hero: </strong><span>Brad Wieck</span> (.087). Wieck was summoned with two on and two outs in the sixth. The Cardinals were already ahead 2-1 but were still threatening. He got that out to escape that inning and then two more to follow it. He retired all three batters he faced.</li>
<li id="vqtJUK">
<strong>Sidekick: </strong><span>Jason Heyward</span> (.061). Jason had two hits and a walk in four plate appearances. </li>
</ul>
<p id="IyKpKQ"><strong>THREE GOATS:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li id="I5Gz9Q">
<strong>Billy Goat: </strong><span>Willson Contreras</span> (-.267). Willson was hitless in four at bats. His double play for the first two outs of the eighth inning after <span>Kyle Schwarber</span> had bunted his way on base was devastating. (-.205)</li>
<li id="kaG0sK">
<strong>Goat: </strong><span>Ben Zobrist</span> (-.189). Ben pinch hit with runners on first and second and one out in the seventh and flew out. He stayed in the game and ended up making the last out of the game as well. </li>
<li id="O5xU7a">
<strong>Kid: </strong><span>Steve Cishek</span> (-.176). After David Phelps walked the first two hitters he faced, Cishek was summoned. He walked his first batter faced, then allowed a two-run single. He bounced back and got the next two outs, but it was too late. </li>
</ul>
<p id="14QDqJ"><strong>WPA Play of the Game</strong>: <span>Yadier Molina</span>’s two-run single against <span>Cishek</span> gave the Cards a 2-1 lead. (.156)</p>
<p id="5t3PJD">*Cubs Play of the Game: After Jason Heyward started the bottom of the seventh with a single, <span>Nico Hoerner</span> followed with one of his own. (.113)</p>
<p id="WBdIVk"><strong>Cumulative Standings Top/Bottom 3: </strong></p>
<ul>
<li id="npe5ZM">
<span>Anthony Rizzo</span> 35</li>
<li id="WTLaGy">
<span>Kris Bryant</span> 34.75</li>
<li id="ClteBw">
<span>Kyle Hendricks</span> 16</li>
<li id="QcrMCX">!<span>Carl Edwards Jr.</span> -12</li>
<li id="MmPDAC">
<span>Jason Heyward</span> -20</li>
<li id="DlngqO">
<span>Pedro Strop</span> -20.5</li>
</ul>
<p id="A6duQe"><strong>Up Next: </strong><span>Jose Quintana</span> attempts to reverse this skid. Jose is 13-8 with a 4.37 ERA in 162⅔ innings. He is 3-1 with a 4.91 ERA in 33 innings over his last seven starts. Last time out, he got a no-decision against the <a href="https://www.bucsdugout.com/">Pirates</a> after allowing eight hits, one walk and five runs in 2⅓ innings. Current Cardinals have 182 PA against Jose with a .910 OPS. <span>Dexter Fowler</span> has the most PA (29) and very good results (1.171). But it is <span>Paul Goldschmidt</span> who has crushed Q. He has 14 PA and a 2.027 OPS that includes three homers. Jose has pitched twice against the Cardinals and thrown a total of 10 innings while allowing four runs. He’s 1-0 this year againt the Cardinals. </p>
<p id="58T0x6">The Cardinals counter with 24-year-old righthander <span>Dakota Hudson</span>. Dakota is 16-7 with a 3.35 ERA in 166⅔ innings. Over his last seven starts, he is 6-1 with a 1.59 ERA in 45⅓ innings. He and <span>Jack Flaherty</span> have given the Cardinals quite a 1-2 punch. Last time out, Hudson beat the <a href="https://www.federalbaseball.com/">Nationals</a> with seven innings of five hit, two walk two run ball. </p>
<p id="ivTmm2">Hudson has been very tough on RHH (.682), but has struggled a bit against lefties (.804). The Cardinals starter has also been better at home (.686) than on the road (.806). Current Cubs have only 10 PA against him and a relatively meaningless .733. </p>
<p id="zTFsMP">The Cubs need a win desperately in this one to have any chance at the postseason. </p>
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https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2019/9/21/20876811/2019-cubs-heroes-and-goats-game-154Thomas Smith2019-09-20T18:20:04-05:002019-09-20T18:20:04-05:00Cardinals 2, Cubs 1: It ain’t over till it’s over (PSST! It’s almost over)
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<figcaption>Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>The Cubs suffered another excruciating defeat.</p> <p id="lldvqp">Do you hear that sound? Listen closely...</p>
<p id="wzKr7Q">It’s the sound of the <a href="https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/">Cubs</a>’ window of contention closing.</p>
<p id="Grz0Gb">Before you accuse me of being overly melodramatic, this game was yet another microcosm of not only this season, but last year too. Too many wasted chances. Some really good pitching, but too many walks at the worst possible time.</p>
<p id="VU6jcC">It all added up to <a href="http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2019_09_20_slnmlb_chnmlb_1">a 2-1 loss to the Cardinals</a>, the Cubs’ fourth straight defeat and one they could little afford, as it pretty much ended any chance of winning the N.L. Central, five games out with eight remaining. Oh, sure, they’re still sort of in the wild-card race, but you don’t really think they’ll be only one game behind the <a href="https://www.brewcrewball.com/">Brewers</a> after Milwaukee <s>demolishes</s> hosts the <a href="https://www.bucsdugout.com/">Pirates</a> this evening, do you?</p>
<p id="c7uYpu">Sigh. No, I’m not in a good mood this evening, and likely, neither are you. But let’s go through this game, because there were some good things in it.</p>
<p id="kGSmzA"><span>Alec Mills</span> threw very, very well for almost five innings. The “almost” is the key, because since he could not register the last out of the fifth, that started a cascade of Cubs relievers who just weren’t quite the right fit at the right time.</p>
<p id="NIscD1">Mills allowed two hits and struck out six. He walked two — the second, <span>Dexter Fowler</span> with two out in the fifth. If Mills had retired Fowler, then <span>Kyle Ryan</span> wouldn’t have had to be wasted on recording the last out of that inning when the pitcher’s spot in the batting order led off the last of the fifth and everyone knew a pinch hitter would be coming.</p>
<p id="9IBYts">While Mills was throwing well — and seriously, the Cubs could do worse for a fifth starter in 2020 — the Cubs had their chances on the basepaths. <span>Anthony Rizzo</span> led off the first with a walk, but when <span>Nicholas Castellanos</span> lined sharply to short, Rizzo simply couldn’t get back quickly enough on his bad ankle and was doubled off.</p>
<p id="RuDKxH">The Cubs took the lead in the second. <span>Kyle Schwarber</span> doubled, and advanced to third on a groundout. <a href="https://cuts.diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2019/2019-09/20/57488fbc-7b3b38fa-50f54626-CSVM-DIAMONDTMP-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4">David Bote batted next [VIDEO].</a></p>
<div id="vJ8NyM"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><video controls="" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;">Your browser does not support HTML5 video.<source src="https://cuts.diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2019/2019-09/20/57488fbc-7b3b38fa-50f54626-CSVM-DIAMONDTMP-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4" type="video/mp4"></source></video></div></div>
<p id="ggAK8I"></p>
<p id="YHArrH"><span>Tommy Edman</span> couldn’t handle Bote’s ground ball. Bote was safe and Schwarber scored, giving the Cubs their first lead since Monday. Jason Heyward singled Bote to third and it appeared the Cubs might put together an inning, but <span>Nico Hoerner</span> hit into a double play.</p>
<p id="aqwVIa">The Cubs again had an opportunity in the third. Three straight singles by Rizzo, Castellanos and <span>Kris Bryant</span> loaded the bases. This is where Rizzo’s inability to run at full speed really hurt. He might have scored on Bryant’s hit if he had been 100 percent.</p>
<p id="K8ECYv">But again, here are two runners in scoring position with one out. Another double play followed, this one hit into by Schwarber.</p>
<p id="FRPH15">In the fifth, <a href="https://cuts.diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2019/2019-09/20/b21db21b-9ee9bece-2c084445-CSVM-DIAMONDTMP-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4">Castellanos doubled [VIDEO]</a>.</p>
<div id="GGmQBi"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><video controls="" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;">Your browser does not support HTML5 video.<source src="https://cuts.diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2019/2019-09/20/b21db21b-9ee9bece-2c084445-CSVM-DIAMONDTMP-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4" type="video/mp4"></source></video></div></div>
<p id="b29UKV"></p>
<p id="P3Jenq">That was his 57th of the season (37 with the <a href="https://www.blessyouboys.com/">Tigers</a>). He is just the 13th player in MLB history to hit that many in a single season. To put what he’s done with the Cubs in perspective, that’s his 20th as a Cub. That ties him with Heyward for fifth on the Cubs. Heyward has played 94 more games as a Cub this year than Castellanos.</p>
<p id="06GrS7">The Cubs nursed their 1-0 lead into the sixth and then the bullpen fell apart. <span>David Phelps</span> walked the first two hitters he faced. He was removed in favor of <span>Steve Cishek</span>, who completed the trifecta by issuing another walk. Bases loaded, nobody out, and <span>Yadier Molina</span> was the next hitter. You can almost predict what’s coming even if you don’t want it. Molina singled in two runs. Credit to Cishek and <span>Brad Wieck</span> for not allowing any more runs and keeping the game close.</p>
<p id="9UlDwS">Those “credits” are getting a little tired, with no offense to back them up.</p>
<p id="9qtPvb">The Cubs had another good scoring chance in the seventh. Heyward and Hoerner blooped singles, one to left, one to right.</p>
<p id="31NmAu">Now, would you have bunted them along? Joe Maddon usually doesn’t. The Cubs have only 30 sacrifice hits this year. <span>Ian Happ</span> and <span>Ben Zobrist</span> flied to center, but Castellanos walked to load the bases for Bryant.</p>
<p id="i1n4xb">Here’s where the former MVP needs to step up. He didn’t. He flied to left and the inning was over.</p>
<p id="9hkFX4"> In the top of the eighth, two more walks and a single loaded the bases for the Cardinals with one out. This time, <span>Rowan Wick</span> cleaned up his own mess with a strikeout and a ground-ball force play.</p>
<p id="PnmeW0"><span>Derek Holland</span> and <span>Pedro Strop</span> managed to combine to strike out the side in the ninth, despite putting two more Cardinals on base via walks. The Cardinals had only four hits on the afternoon, but nine walks. Cubs pitchers threw a ghastly total of 187 pitches, only 112 of which were strikes. Yikes.</p>
<p id="hNODHm">So, it’s the last of the ninth. Heyward popped to short. So did Hoerner. Then <span>Tony Kemp</span> was sent up to bat for <span>Jonathan Lucroy</span>, who had been the Cubs’ fourth first baseman of the day. Kemp worked a walk — a really good at-bat. The tying run is on base! Zobrist is the hitter, and you hoped he would just keep the inning alive for Castellanos. Unfortunately, Ben grounded to first to end the game.</p>
<p id="jlZqsK">Personally, I was wondering who would play first base if the Cubs had sent the game to extras. <span>Willson Contreras</span> could have, I suppose, but that would have meant Schwarber catching and <span>Albert Almora Jr.</span> in the outfield.</p>
<p id="VeV4Id">All fun to speculate, I guess, but we are now staring an October without Cubs baseball in the face. The loss makes the Cubs 19-25 in one-run games this year. And the double plays, four of them, just killed any chance at run-scoring:</p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Offense today: Cubs have had 4 PA end in a double play today. That's tied for their most in a game this season. It's their most double plays in a game against the Cardinals since May 8, 2013</p>— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNChiCubs/status/1175166413792788481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 20, 2019</a>
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<p id="1MaTze">Of course, there are still eight games remaining, and maybe a miracle will happen and they’ll win all eight of them and we’ll see them playing somewhere in the postseason. (See if you can convince yourself this is actually going to happen.)</p>
<p id="QrNjoL">I’m trying to remain hopeful here, but it’s pretty difficult right now. </p>
<p id="V4CPS5">Anyway, there will be another game Saturday. <span>Jose Quintana</span> will start for the Cubs and <span>Dakota Hudson</span> gets the call for the Cardinals. Game time is again 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage Saturday will be via WGN.</p>
<p id="LmWO9x"></p>
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2019/9/20/20876544/cubs-cardinals-recap-alec-mills-david-phelps-mlb-scoresAl Yellon2019-09-20T15:20:00-05:002019-09-20T15:20:00-05:00Overflow thread 2: Cubs vs. Cardinals, Friday 9/20, 1:20 CT
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<figcaption>Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p id="BlGLrw">——</p>
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2019/9/20/20870452/overflow-thread-2-cubs-vs-cardinals-friday-9-20-1-20-ctAl Yellon2019-09-20T14:20:00-05:002019-09-20T14:20:00-05:00Overflow thread 1: Cubs vs. Cardinals, Friday 9/20, 1:20 CT
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<figcaption>Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p id="BlGLrw">——</p>
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2019/9/20/20870449/overflow-thread-1-cubs-vs-cardinals-friday-9-20-1-20-ctAl Yellon2019-09-20T13:15:00-05:002019-09-20T13:15:00-05:00First pitch thread: Cubs vs. Cardinals, Friday 9/20, 1:20 CT
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<figcaption>Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p id="BlGLrw">Go get ‘em, Alec.</p>
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2019/9/20/20870443/first-pitch-thread-cubs-vs-cardinals-friday-9-20-1-20-ctAl Yellon2019-09-20T11:30:00-05:002019-09-20T11:30:00-05:00Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals preview, Friday 9/20, 1:20 CT
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<figcaption>Write your own caption | Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>The Cubs look to even up the series against the Cardinals.</p> <p id="366p3P">Notes for Friday:</p>
<ul>
<li id="OYhNLH">The crowd of 39,524 Thursday brought the season announced attendance total to 2,977,082, so the Cubs will pass the three million mark at Wrigley Field Friday. With expected sellouts the next three days, total attendance for the season should finish around 3.1 million, about 80,000 fewer than 2018.</li>
<li id="eMbB2q">Despite the loss Thursday, the Cubs went 22-11 (.667) in Wrigley Field night contests this season, and are 404-346 (.539) all-time in regular season night games at Wrigley since lights were installed during the 1988 season.</li>
<li id="GEQCwa">
<span>Anthony Rizzo</span>, last four games: .545/.643/1.091 (6-for-11) with two home runs and seven RBI.</li>
<li id="nBf1fa">
<span>Nicholas Castellanos</span>, last seven games: .357/.428/.714 (10-for-28) with seven doubles, a home run, eight RBI and 10 runs scored.</li>
<li id="63ZoM1">
<span>Ben Zobrist</span>, last six games: .400/.478/.650 (8-for-20) with two doubles and a home run.</li>
</ul>
<p id="AdHENL">Here are today’s particulars.</p>
<p id="3IvQgQ"><a href="https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/">Cubs</a> lineup:</p>
<div id="7B5i50">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Here is today's <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cubs?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cubs</a> starting lineup. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EverybodyIn?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EverybodyIn</a> <br><br>Game preview: <a href="https://t.co/kWUiMN8xXl">https://t.co/kWUiMN8xXl</a> <a href="https://t.co/V5YchyIXDc">pic.twitter.com/V5YchyIXDc</a></p>— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) <a href="https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1175062082343116801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 20, 2019</a>
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<p id="7fnZ8A">The <a href="https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/">Cardinals</a> lineup was not available at posting time. Please check <a href="http://www.twitter.com/bleedcubbieblue">the BCB Twitter feed</a> for the Cardinals lineup. </p>
<h2 id="V5jSYv">
<span>Alec Mills</span>, RHP vs. <span>Michael Wacha</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="V6LI8J">This was supposed to be <span>Jose Quintana</span>’s start. But when <span>Cole Hamels</span> was scratched from Saturday due to a shoulder issue, Q was moved to Saturday, and Alec Mills was slotted into this start.</p>
<p id="pezCHG">This is the sort of thing that sometimes works. Mills has been pretty good this year in three separate callups from Triple-A Iowa, two outings in July, two in August, three in September, and his September numbers are quite good (small sample size alert): three appearances, six innings, 1.50 ERA, 0.667 WHIP, no walks, nine strikeouts.</p>
<p id="4yX8Bp">He made two relief appearances against the Cardinals last year. <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN201807270.shtml">One was good</a>, the other <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN201809300.shtml">not so much</a>. Current Cardinals are an extremely small sample size 0-for-9 against him with four strikeouts.</p>
<p id="MZ5Z1Z">You know how Cubs hitters sometimes do against guys they have never seen before, or haven’t seen much. Perhaps this will work in the Cubs’ favor this afternoon.</p>
<p id="Vqu828">Michael Wacha was having such a bad year that he was briefly removed from the Cardinals rotation. Since he returned there for good at the beginning of August the results have been somewhat better: 3.82 ERA, 1.330 WHIP in eight starts. On the other hand, he has thrown more than five innings in only one of those starts, and has been yanked fairly early in all of his September outings.</p>
<p id="877vow">He has made one start against the Cubs this year, <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN201905040.shtml">May 4 at Wrigley Field</a>, and was best known that day for giving up <span>Taylor Davis</span>’ grand slam. Wacha has a lifetime ERA of 6.11 in nine appearances (eight starts) at Wrigley, with nine home runs allowed.</p>
<p id="3omYNE">Today’s game is on ABC7 Chicago. It’s also on MLB Network (outside the Cubs and Cardinals market territories). </p>
<p id="cxuSIp"><a href="https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/2019/09/20">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_09_20_slnmlb_chnmlb_1">MLB.com Gameday</a></p>
<p id="iDRiK8"><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/previews/2019/CHN201909200.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.vivaelbirdos.com/">Cardinals</a> site <a href="http://www.vivaelbirdos.com/">Viva El Birdos</a>. If you do go there to interact with Cardinals 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/2019/9/20/20868465/chicago-cubs-st-louis-cardinals-preview-fridayAl Yellon