(Photo Courtesy Mike Schepker via Flickr)

The Eighth Inning

Cubs vs Cardinals Opener Memorable for All the Wrong Reasons

Big Ben Martin
Jul 22, 2017 · 5 min read

Watching Jake Arrieta walk off the mound at Wrigley field following the final out of the 6th inning, I had a good feeling. The Cubs had managed a 3–2 lead over the rival Cardinals on the opening of the most underrated baseball rivalry in the nation.

After pitching 6 innings, Jake the snake had given up a paltry 2 runs on 5 hits against the seemingly helpless Cardinals offense. The Cubs were up to there old “Ball over the wall” type offense of the first half, and it had been paying off with Contreras hitting his 14th home run in the first inning to put the Cubs ahead. The Cardinals tied it with a Grichuk home run and a Fowler RBI double with 2 outs in the 3rd inning.

The score remained tied up until Anthony Rizzo came to the plate in the Bottom of the 5th with two on and nobody out. The man who should have a captains “C” on his arm took a 1–0 fastball down the pipe and pulled it so hard to the first base side that the ball boy had to grab his chair and dive out of the way as the ball bounced hard off the wall in foul territory and back toward the left fielder Grichuk. Zobrist at second and Heyward at third hesitated after seeing Carpenter dive into foul territory and miss the ball, thinking it was a foul ball. But just as Grichuk got to the ball, Heyward turned on the gas and crossed home plate ahead of the throw to make it 3–2 Cubs.

The fifth inning ended without anyone getting Zobrist home from third base, but in hindsight it wouldn’t even really matter. Arrieta exited the game in the 6th and Strop pitched a clean 7th inning getting a strikeout and 2 ground outs while only giving up 1 walk.

Then the 8th inning started.

It was at this point that the storm which was bearing down on Wrigley field could have decided to show up early and end the game. Or maybe a Lake Michigan rogue tidal wave coming down West Addison street could have flooded the concourse and ended play for the afternoon. Even a lame ending out of a Stephen King novel where a giant spider appears and everything explodes would have been preferable to what actually happened in the top of the 8th inning at Wrigley Field on Friday afternoon.

The vaunted Chicago bullpen, the lone bright spot for much of the first half, melted down in the most spectacular of fashions. It took 3 different pitchers 61 pitches to navigate through 14 Cardinal batters in the top of the 8th inning. 9 Cardinal runs crossed the plate, all before a single out was registered by the Cubs defense. The sloppy play was highlighted by the inability of Carl Edwards Junior [the artist formerly known as the notorious CEJ] Hector Rondon, or Justin Grimm to throw the ball in the strike zone. The Cubs bullpen collectively issued 6 walks, 3 doubles, 3 singles, and registered a lone strikeout to end the inning after Dexter Fowler hit into a double play his second time up.

Heyward and Zobrist were back on base with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th before Almora hit a sacrifice fly to score Heyward from third base for the Cubs [would have been] insurance run.

The Cubs lost 11–4 in what Cardinals fans would call a “Return to the Natural Order of things.”

Sloppy defense is when mental acuity breaks down because suddenly an inordinate amount of stress befalls players on the field of play. The unexpected outburst of Cardinals hitting found a catalyst in the stress of the bullpen, where pitchers would face multiple hitters before finally putting a ball in the strike zone. Catalysts like outfielders colliding on the warning track for what should have been a playable ball, and ground balls never hitting leather as they find their way through to the outfield grass.

Defense cost the Cubs yet another winnable game in spite of a solid effort from their starter for 6 innings and a run margin that should be enough for a team with an elite level defense (on paper, except for Schwarber, but I digress). The Cubs had 6 strikeouts and 12 hits, while the Cardinals had 9 strikeouts on 11 hits, but the key statistic offensively is the one upon which sabermetrics has built a foundation — walks. The Cubs managed just a single solitary walk for the entirety of the game while St. Louis was fed a steady diet of base on balls — totaling 8 in the contest. Even without the disastrous 8th inning, the Cardinals still managed to double the lone Cubs walk effort perpetrated by Tommy La Stella.

The one category which the Cubs thoroughly outmatched their rivals from the Lou happened to be runners left on base. Nearly doubling the Cardinal effort of 13 runners LOB, the Cubs managed to strand 22 runners throughout the 9 innings of play. The expectation of home run balls will stagnate a defense when putting the ball in play is all power hitters need to do to score runs.

This team has been built around the long ball, but when they play superior competition [sorry Atlanta and Baltimore, I’m not referring to you] runs have to be manufactured by more than just swinging hard and aiming for the basket. With Jason Heyward as the 9th and newest lead-off man for the Cubs in the 2017 season, offensive prowess seams to be in short supply. With the reigning MVP on the mend, it looks like the Cubs are going to have to work at putting the ball in play in order to win games and compete with top tier teams in the league.

We were the last team in the majors to have our lead-off hitter steal a base in the 2017 season.

If only we had a lead-off hitter who could get on base and swipe bags…oh wait.(Photo Courtesy Jumpy News via Flickr)

As far as whether or not the Cubs are capable of playing small ball remains to be seen. And as long as the LOB numbers are high and the RBI numbers remain tethered to the long ball, I’m afraid we’re in for more long afternoons like this one.

Big Ben Martin has been a Cubs fan since he was 3 years old, watching Cubs games on WGN in Kansas City after cartoons were over. Since moving to Texas, his Cubs love has grown to heights that make Texans blush. Self appointed Cubs historian and amateur baseball coach. When not playing the role of loving husband or father of three, he might be found screaming at the TV screen as though the umps can hear him, or as his alter ego Big Cynical Ben @bigbenkc on Twitter.

Words From the Friendly Confines

Big Ben Martin

Written by

English Minor, Cubs Historian, Baseball Coach, Resides in San Angelo,TX. Staff Writer for Wrigley Rapport. My opinions are my own but my kids think I’m awesome!

Wrigley Rapport

Words From the Friendly Confines

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