5/3 Cubs (Jake) @ Pirates (Niese) - 6:05 CST - MLBN/WPWR

[Sammy Sofa]

This guy returns to Pittsburgh, where he left nothing but shed tears and broken dreams the last time he was there. Look at that mean mug:

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/images/players/525x330/alt/453562.jpg

 

No doubt players will be plunked, the Pirates will lose, Chinese food will be eaten and a dong or six will end up in the river.

 

Edited May 3, 2016 by Sammy Sofa

[David]

i think this team is good enough to overcome the weird mojo of a new game thread starter following a win

[David]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/BBTN/status/727323616761778180[/tweet]

 

[tweet]

[/tweet]

[mul21]

Is +83 good? It really is crazy how many of the regulars are still under performing and they're still wrecking the league right now.

[Omar]

Benches are gonna clear at least once this season series. Please for the love of god nobody important get suspended.

[Cubswin11]

Benches are gonna clear at least once this season series. Please for the love of god nobody important get suspended.

The players were able to keep their cool/Joe was able to control them in the Cardinals series last year that got heated. I have faith they will be smart enough to do the same in this series if faced with a similar situation, I worry more about a dirty slide or HBP hurting a guy than anyone getting suspended. Hopefully Hurdle and the Pirates are dumb enough to just keep hitting guys in spots that don't hurt them and giving us free runners and our response is just to beat them with the free runners.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

so when they showed the replay of the benches clearing last year, I couldn't help but wonder why the bullpens ran all the way in when it seems to me like they should have just faked their anger in the outfield

[itisallpartoftheplan]

so when they showed the replay of the benches clearing last year, I couldn't help but wonder why the bullpens ran all the way in when it seems to me like they should have just faked their anger in the outfield

 

With Jake pitching they knew they had energy to burn.

[halplm]

Hopefully Jake has practiced his ducking.

[Sammy Sofa]

i think this team is good enough to overcome the weird mojo of a new game thread starter following a win

 

I just do as Fred says.

[Brian]

if they lose it's because of EST in the thread title

[Aaron_Kennelly]

We are a normal start from Jake and a normal start from Jon away from being 6 up on the division.

[David]

if they lose it's because of EST in the thread title

 

yeah, that's bad too

[Sammy Sofa]

Oh yeah, forgot you guys live in backwards-time.

[Fred Hornkohl]

CUBS' magic numbers:

 

Pittsburgh 134

St. Louis 132

Milwaukee 130

Cincinnati 129

[ctcf]

I fully support this EST business

[ctcf]

I can't believe I'm actually upset Szczur might be out for a while

[Fred Hornkohl]

Memo to game thread starters........

 

at bat: Sammy Sofa (0-0) - Tue 03 May vs. Pittsburgh

 

on deck: ctcf (0-0)

 

in the hold: OleMissCub (0-0)

[Omar]

It'd be cool if Heyward is able to play this one.

 

Cubs v. Niese

Name               PA  AB  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO   BA  OBP  SLG   OPS SH SF IBB HBP GDP missG
Jason Heyward      31  28  9  2  0  2   8  2  7 .321 .387 .607  .994  0  0   0   1         1
David Ross         24  22  6  1  1  1   8  2  5 .273 .333 .545  .879  0  0   1   0         0
Anthony Rizzo      22  18  2  1  0  0   1  2  1 .111 .273 .167  .439  0  0   0   2         0
Dexter Fowler      19  18  5  0  0  1   1  1  2 .278 .316 .444  .760  0  0   0   0         1
Kris Bryant         6   5  2  0  0  0   1  1  1 .400 .500 .400  .900  0  0   0   0         0
Addison Russell     6   6  0  0  0  0   1  0  0 .000 .000 .000  .000  0  0   0   0         0
Matt Szczur         6   6  3  2  0  0   2  0  0 .500 .500 .833 1.333  0  0   0   0         0
Javier Baez         3   3  1  0  0  0   0  0  1 .333 .333 .333  .667  0  0   0   0         0
Kyle Hendricks      3   3  0  0  0  0   0  0  2 .000 .000 .000  .000  0  0   0   0         0
Tommy La Stella     3   3  0  0  0  0   0  0  0 .000 .000 .000  .000  0  0   0   0         1
Jorge Soler         3   3  1  0  0  0   0  0  1 .333 .333 .333  .667  0  0   0   0         0
Ben Zobrist         3   3  0  0  0  0   0  0  0 .000 .000 .000  .000  0  0   0   0         0
Trevor Cahill       2   2  0  0  0  0   0  0  1 .000 .000 .000  .000  0  0   0   0         0
Travis Wood         1   1  0  0  0  0   0  0  0 .000 .000 .000  .000  0  0   0   0         0
Total             132 121 29  6  1  4  22  8 21 .240 .303 .405  .708  0  0   1   3         3
Has not faced: Tim Federowicz & Has not faced pitchers: Jake Arrieta, Justin Grimm, Jason Hammel, John Lackey, Jon Lester, Neil Ramirez, Clayton Richard, Hector Rondon, Pedro Strop and Adam Warren

 

Pirates v. Arrieta

Name                  PA  AB  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO   BA  OBP  SLG   OPS SH SF IBB HBP GDP missG
Andrew McCutchen      31  27 10  2  0  0   1  3  7 .370 .452 .444  .896  0  0   0   1         0
Starling Marte        22  21  4  0  0  0   0  0  5 .190 .227 .190  .418  0  0   0   1         1
Gregory Polanco       20  20  3  0  0  0   1  0  7 .150 .150 .150  .300  0  0   0   0         0
Francisco Cervelli    17  16  3  0  0  0   1  0  5 .188 .235 .188  .423  0  0   0   1         1
Matthew Joyce         17  14  7  2  0  1   4  2  0 .500 .529 .857 1.387  0  1   0   0         0
Josh Harrison         14  13  1  1  0  0   0  0  3 .077 .143 .154  .297  0  0   0   1         0
John Jaso              7   6  1  0  0  0   0  1  0 .167 .286 .167  .452  0  0   0   0         0
Jordy Mercer           6   6  0  0  0  0   0  0  2 .000 .000 .000  .000  0  0   0   0         0
Francisco Liriano      2   2  0  0  0  0   0  0  0 .000 .000 .000  .000  0  0   0   0         0
Gerrit Cole            1   1  0  0  0  0   0  0  1 .000 .000 .000  .000  0  0   0   0         0
Total                137 126 29  5  0  1   7  6 30 .230 .285 .294  .578  0  1   0   4         2
Has not faced: David Freese, Sean Rodriguez, Jason Rogers and Chris Stewart & Has not faced pitchers: Arquimedes Caminero, Neftali Feliz, Jared Hughes, Kyle Lobstein, Jeff Locke, Mark Melancon, Juan Nicasio, Jon Niese, A.J. Schugel, Ryan Vogelsong and Tony Watson

Edited May 3, 2016 by Omar

[Banedon]

I can't believe I'm actually upset Szczur might be out for a while

 

Szczur began to inch off third base as David Ross attempted to steal second in the fifth inning of the Cubs' 7-2 win. When Ross got caught in a rundown, Szczur headed home, but as the throw came in, he stopped and then started again, injuring the hamstring. He eventually scored when Josh Harrison's throw sailed over the catcher's head.

 

"When I pushed off, I felt something a little bit, but I was able to run home, so I don't think it's anything severe," Szczur said after the game.

 

Szczur was asked if he might need some time to mend the hamstring.

 

"I hope not," he said.

[sneakypower]

Benches are gonna clear at least once this season series. Please for the love of god nobody important get suspended.

eh, do it, there's not really anybody i'm worried about losing for a few games

[Brian707]

Oh yeah, forgot you guys live in backwards-time.

 

 

Actually EST is the same as CDT so you were right

[ctcf]

Kalish is up. He's been killing it at Iowa so far this year. Assuming Szczur headed for the DL.

[Omar]

Kalish is up. He's been killing it at Iowa so far this year. Assuming Szczur headed for the DL.

 

makes sense he's in the majors, given that it's an even-numbered year.

[UMFan83]

The Cubs must be getting good because I am into power rankings and offense at being slighted by them again.

 

But seriously, this one is math based right?

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/rpi

 

The Cubs are 3rd behind the 2nd place White Sox (RD +25, SOS slightly better, expected WL would put them 4 GB Cubs) and.....the 15-11 Philadelphia Phillies with a run differential of -23, expected WL of 10-16, and 15-11 overall record after getting smashed by the Cardinals last night.