8/23 - Cubs (Taillon) vs Tigers (Skubal): 12:10pm, Marquee

[bukie]

Cubs back to 6 games over .500.

 

I am skeptical of their chances of winning 100 games this season, unfortunately.

[bukie]

If you wanted to reverse-UMfan this game, the Cubs were one pitch away from a 6-0 shutout.

[squally1313]

 

2 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

I think the amount of close games recently is a bit abnormal, but I think part of the experience is that the Cubs have very little recent experience being around average.  We lament that the bullpen and rotation isn't quite deep enough, the offense has slumps or can't end enough games early, etc and those aren't incorrect, but we attribute it as a failing when it's actually definitionally part of being not quite a very good team.  If the offense was good enough to more consistently turn these games into laughers or the SP were a bit better/healthier, we'd probably have had higher expectations going into the season!  That's the maddening part of following a team good enough to care but not good enough to dominate.  The good news in the case of the 2023 Cubs is there's no indication this is a one off or last hurrah, so the healthy thing is to enjoy a relative lack of expectation or downside for failure.  If the SP run out of steam or Bellinger gets hurt spreading peanut butter or w/e that stinks, but ultimately this year is largely house money and we can enjoy the success and the ride(which at this point is likely to go down to the wire either way) without getting too hung up on what was lost if they don't make it.

Yeah spot on. I have a Braves fan friend and I drunkenly went on a hot take about how, actually, being a Cubs fan is better this year, because they'd had nothing to play for since like May, and the extent of their high-intensity games could come down to a week in October. Whereas we 'get to' live and die with this team for the next 5 weeks, and hopefully longer, and that's in addition to what we've already gotten so far this year. And, to your later point, it's better than the 2018/2019 versions just gasping at one last chance before we had to break up the core of our lifetimes. Obviously there are decisions to be made and key players will be lost (and hopefully replaced). But this is year one of whatever this run is. 

[Ding Dong Johnson]

3 minutes ago, bukie said:

Cubs back to 6 games over .500.

 

I am skeptical of their chances of winning 100 games this season, unfortunately.

On 4/18/2023 at 9:40 PM, Ding Dong Johnson said:

I’m still sticking with 92 wins.

I never wavered. Even in the darkest of days.

[itisallpartoftheplan]

Twins had 1st and 2nd 0 outs in the 9th. Michael A Taylor tries to bunt and 2 pitches low and out of the zone and then eventually strikes out.

Twins now have 2 outs. I’m sure the Brewers will walk this off in the bottom half.

[itisallpartoftheplan]

Ohtani pulled with an injury. Angels will have to go through their pen in game 1 and lose their best hitter.

[soccer10k]

3 minutes ago, itisallpartoftheplan said:

Twins had 1st and 2nd 0 outs in the 9th. Michael A Taylor tries to bunt and 2 pitches low and out of the zone and then eventually strikes out.

Twins now have 2 outs. I’m sure the Brewers will walk this off in the bottom half.

Those were a pair of awful bunt attempts.

[CubinNY]

I had a meeting and had to miss the end of the game.

A win is a win and cannot be taken away. 

Keep chugging along. This team reminds me of the Colorado Rockies team that lost to Boston in the 2007 WS. Not the same makeup, but the same type of team that just kept winning down the stretch until they found themselves in the WS.

They were 90-73

Edited August 23, 2023 by CubinNY

[Brian707]

On to the 10th in Milwaukee . Go Twins 

[Nolansomebody]

Just saw the box score, and the Cubs won! 

Now time for a Pittsburgh, which might be a mixed bag.

[itisallpartoftheplan]

Brewers seem like they always find a way. Tie it up right away.

[soccer10k]

And the Brewers win in part because Michael Taylor couldn’t field a grounder in CF which allowed the runner to get to second with no out. Solid work.

[itisallpartoftheplan]

Officially rooting for the Guardians in the Central.

[We Got The Whole 9]

Doval walks Schwarber and Turner and Harper blasts a game tying shot 

[UMFan83]

16 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Doval walks Schwarber and Turner and Harper blasts a game tying shot 

Giants have the bases loaded and 0 outs in the 10th

edit: now it’s 7-5, still 0 outs

Edited August 23, 2023 by UMFan83

[UMFan83]

Brewers win

Giants win

Reds likely to win twice

Marlins lose

Diamondbacks idle

Another rough day of scoreboard watching, outside of the Cubs winning.

 

Looks like the night will end like this

PHI 2.5 ahead

CHI --

CIN --

--------------------

ARI 0.5

SF 0.5

MIA 2

Edited August 24, 2023 by UMFan83

[itisallpartoftheplan]

Officially rooting for the Angels to lose Ohtani. Specifically to an NL team in Chicago.

[JD94]

6 hours ago, itisallpartoftheplan said:

Officially rooting for the Angels to lose Ohtani. Specifically to an NL team in Chicago.

Well he has a torn UCL. Possible he will need a second TJ. Just brutal news for Ohtani. 

[CubUgly]

15 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

That was really impressive pitching going through the heart of their order.  At times Merryweather looks completely dominant, but he has enough off performances to always make me a little nervous when he pitches.

He seems to like to throw that slider as much or more than the fastball and he will hang one or two an outing.   Sometimes he gets away with it, sometimes he does not.