Bleed Cubbie Blue - Cubs vs. Pirates Thursday Game ThreadsA Chicago Cubs Fan Community Since February 9, 2005https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47557/cubbieblue.png2014-04-10T17:35:14-05:00http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/rss/stream/53537812014-04-10T17:35:14-05:002014-04-10T17:35:14-05:00Pirates 5, Cubs 4: A Tale Of 2 Games
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<figcaption>Brian Kersey</figcaption>
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<p>The Cubs played well for four innings... then stopped hitting, while the bullpen coughed up a four-run lead.</p> <p>You know, I was all ready to write an upbeat recap of Thursday afternoon's game, because the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/">Cubs</a> spent the first four innings doing really good things. They scored a run after two out and no one on base in the third inning when <span>Emilio Bonifacio</span> reached on an error, stole second and then never stopped running when the throw got into center field. That's something we've rarely seen, if ever, from a Cubs player.</p>
<p>They scored three more runs in the fourth inning on four hits and a wild pitch, taking advantage of opportunities and taking advantage of their opponent's mistakes.</p>
<p>And that doesn't happen often at Wrigley Field, either, at least not from the home team. Timely hitting! Heads-up baserunning! Getting out of jams! Why, it's almost...</p>
<p>Apparently, though, the Cubs forgot how to hit for the next four innings -- after <span>Travis Wood</span> was hit by a pitch with two out in the bottom of the fourth, the next 13 Cubs went down in order. That's not good. Meanwhile, after Wood, who didn't have his best stuff Thursday, gutted out six really good innings including getting out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the third, the bullpen proceeded to blow the four-run lead, capped by a three-run homer onto the roof of the bleacher batter's eye suite by <span>Pedro Alvarez</span>.</p>
<p>The culprits were <span>Brian Schlitter</span> and <span>James Russell</span>, both of whom coughed up home runs; Schlitter allowed a two-run shot to pinch-hitter <span>Travis Snider</span> and Russell was responsible for the dinger by Alvarez. You could quibble with Ricky's decision to leave Wood in to start the seventh, but I suspect he wanted Wood to face the lefthanded <span>Neil Walker</span> and Wood was going to come out of the game after Walker no matter what happened. Unfortunately, Walker doubled off Wood, putting the bullpen in a rough situation, which they then proceeded to make worse.</p>
<p>So instead of a winning series, the Cubs lost their third straight series (and eighth straight dating back to 2013), fell to 3-6, and are 1-4 in one-run games, and are thus "on pace" for 101 one-run games (yes, I'm well aware that "paces" this time of year are pretty silly).</p>
<p>Let's talk about a couple other good things that happened before this recap goes totally negative. <span>Starlin Castro</span> had three more hits, including one in a ninth-inning rally that fell short. He also made a couple of nice defensive plays, including running all the way into foul territory to catch a popup while he was standing near second base in the shift. Also, Castro scored a run in the Cubs' three-run fourth inning (pictured above) because <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bucsdugout.com/">Pirates</a> catcher <span>Tony Sanchez</span> was ruled to have been blocking the plate, one of the first (if not <i>the</i> first) times I have seen that new blocking-the-plate collision-avoidance rule applied.</p>
<p>Wish I had better news, but it is what it is.</p>
<p>The weather was tolerably mild, and the forecast of rainshowers turned into a couple of sprinkles that lasted about 10 minutes just before game time. Overall, the weather during the first homestand wasn't terrible, considering the awful winter and the fact that the Cubs played six home games (including two night games) by April 10. Speaking of the awful winter, I learned that former Cubs pitcher <span>Ryan Dempster</span>, <a href="https://twitter.com/bleedcubbieblue/status/454337901497565185" target="_blank">who was in the bleachers Thursday</a>, spent the winter in Chicago, where he still has a home. The reason he has the USPS cap -- he told me he traded another cap for it. Cool stuff, and nice for Demp to just hang out at a baseball game.</p>
<p>Wish he could have seen a Cubs win.</p>
<p>The Cubs head on the road, starting Friday night in St. Louis, facing the Cardinals in the first of a three-game series. Doesn't sound like it's going to get any easier.</p>
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2014/4/10/5602626/cubs-pirates-recap-starlin-castro-travis-wood-mlb-scoresAl Yellon2014-04-10T16:05:02-05:002014-04-10T16:05:02-05:00Overflow Thread 3: Cubs vs. Pirates, Thursday 4/10
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<figcaption>Brian Kersey</figcaption>
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https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2014/4/10/5593344/overflow-thread-3-cubs-vs-pirates-thursday-4-10-1-20-ctAl Yellon2014-04-10T15:20:01-05:002014-04-10T15:20:01-05:00Overflow Thread 2: Cubs vs. Pirates, Thursday 4/10
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<figcaption>Brian Kersey</figcaption>
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https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2014/4/10/5593336/overflow-thread-2-cubs-vs-pirates-thursday-4-10-1-20-ctAl Yellon2014-04-10T14:20:10-05:002014-04-10T14:20:10-05:00Overflow Thread 1: Cubs vs. Pirates, Thursday 4/10
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<figcaption>Brian Kersey</figcaption>
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<p>----</p>
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2014/4/10/5593330/overflow-thread-1-cubs-vs-pirates-thursday-4-10-1-20-ctAl Yellon2014-04-10T11:30:02-05:002014-04-10T11:30:02-05:00Cubs vs. Pirates Preview, Thursday 4/10, 1:20 CT
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<figcaption>Brian Kersey</figcaption>
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<p>The Cubs shoot for their first series win of 2014.</p> <p>I was glad to see in <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-cubs-pirates-game-spt-0410-20140410,0,4458527.story" target="_blank">this <i>Tribune</i> article</a> that Ricky is willing to be flexible:</p>
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<pre>Opportunity is expanding for <span>Mike Olt</span> and <span>Junior Lake</span> — along with their confidence.
After they hit consecutive home runs Wednesday night to vault the Cubs to a 7-5 victory over the Pirates, manager Rick Renteria is ready to increase their roles.
Renteria said he plans to steer away slightly from his initial plan of employing a platoon system at certain positions and pencil in right-handed batters Olt and Lake to face hard-throwing right-hander Gerrit Cole in Thursday's series finale.
"(Thursday) is as good a day as any," Renteria said after Olt snapped a 1-1 tie in the fifth inning with a two-run homer and Lake hit the next pitch off left-hander <span>Wandy Rodriguez</span> over the left-field bleachers.</pre>
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<p>This isn't to say that Olt and Lake are going to hit home runs every day (though that would be nice), but at least they're going to start getting more of a chance to play every day (or most days), apparently. This is a good thing, I believe.</p>
<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/">Cubs</a> lineup:</p>
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<pre>Bonifacio 2B, Kalish LF, Rizzo 1B, Schierholtz RF, Lake CF, Castro SS, Olt 3B, Castillo C, Wood P</pre>
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<p>And, in fact, there it is -- Junior Lake and Mike Olt, starting, vs. a RHP. I like this lineup, though I think I might bat Olt higher than Lake. (Always a comment, right?)</p>
<p>Pirates lineup:</p>
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<pre>Marte LF, Tabata RF, McCutchen CF, Alvarez 3B, Sanchez 1B, Sanchez C, Walker 2B, Barmes SS, Cole P</pre>
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<p>The Pirates have used this lineup just one other time in eight games -- <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT201404060.shtml" target="_blank">against the Cardinals and Adam Wainwright</a> last Sunday. (And in that game, <span>Neil Walker</span> hit ahead of the Sanchezes.) Today is the first time the Pirates have faced a lefthanded pitcher this year. Last year they went 76-55 vs. RH starters and 18-13 vs. LH starters.</p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" width="680"><tbody>
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<h2><i>Today's Starting Pitchers</i></h2>
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<a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/8630" target="newwindow"><img src="http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/assets/4237711/traviswoodheadshot.jpg" alt="Travis Wood" border="1" height="480" width="320"></a><br><a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/8630" target="newwindow"> </a><center> <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/8630" target="newwindow">
<h2>Travis Wood</h2>
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<h2>Cubs</h2>
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<td align="center" width="10%">vs.</td>
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<a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/9121" target="newwindow"><img src="http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/assets/3203741/gerritcole.jpg" alt="Gerrit Cole" border="1" height="480" width="320"></a><br><a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/9121" target="newwindow">
<h2>Gerrit Cole</h2>
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<h2>vs. Pit</h2>
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<td class="yspscores" align="center"><a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/bvsp?playerId=32081" target="newwindow">
<h2>vs. Cubs</h2>
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<p><span>Travis Wood</span> made three starts against the Pirates last year and posted a 1.50 ERA and 0.889 WHIP against them. That's really good! Can he do the same today? He'll need to, because his opponent is just as tough.</p>
<p><span>Gerrit Cole</span> has one career start against the Cubs, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN201309240.shtml" target="_blank">September 24, 2013</a> at Wrigley Field. He gave up seven hits and two runs in six innings; Cole also threw well in his first start of 2014. The strong offense of the last two days will have a tough time with this tough righthander.</p>
<p>Today's game is on WGN. In some parts of the USA it will be seen on MLB Network (check your cable/satellite listings).</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://mlb.mlb.com/mediacenter/index.jsp?ymd=20130401#date=4/10/2014">Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.</a></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2014_04_10_pitmlb_chnmlb_1&mode=gameday">MLB.com Gameday</a></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/previews/CHC.shtml">Baseball-reference.com game preview</a></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/events/160055/pregame">SB Nation game preview</a></p>
<p>Please visit our SB Nation <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bucsdugout.com/">Pirates</a> site <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bucsdugout.com/">Bucs Dugout</a>.</p>
<p>For 2014, we are going to have the same game-thread routine as 2013. Here's how it works.</p>
<p>You'll find the game preview -- like this one -- posting as the first link in the StoryStreamâ„¢, which will then contain all the overflow threads and the recap. The recap will also be on the front page as a separate post; once I post a game recap, the stream for each game will be retitled "Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week) Game Threads" so you can go back and find every thread related to that particular game.</p>
<p>In general, game previews will post two hours before game time. Exception: for day games after night games, that will usually be 90 minutes.</p>
<p>You will also be able to find the First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads in the box marked "<a href="https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Chicago Cubs</a> Game Threads" at the bottom of the front page (<a href="http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/game-threads">you can also find them in this section link</a>). They will also appear in this StoryStreamâ„¢. As I've done for each regular-season game for several years now, we'll have the First Pitch thread at five minutes before game time (moved up from actual game time per your requests), then an overflow one hour, two hours and 2:45 after game time.</p>
<p>Discuss amongst yourselves.</p>
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2014/4/10/5589654/chicago-cubs-pittsburgh-pirates-preview-thursdayAl Yellon