The 2nd place Cubs now 5 games behind the 1st place Brewers will host the Cleveland Indians for two games and then the two teams will head to Cleveland to use the DH for another two games.
The Cubs are hoping to continue their winning ways and move up in the standings while gaining ground on the Milwaukee Brewers.
Bauer is clearly having a rough year, averaging 6 runs allowed per 9 innings isn't going to be the most beneficial thing for him to do when attempting to win games. Hendricks is coming off of some good starts and looks to continue building on this.
Game 2
Zach McAllister (4-6, 5.68, 51k) @ Jon Lester (7-2, 2.54, 82)
If the Cubs still have hitting woes by the end of this game then it might be time to make some changes in the organization. Lester looks to reach 8 wins and who knows a ridiculous game could reach 100ks.
Game 3 (In Cleveland)
Jake Arrieta (5-5, 3.07, 82k) @ T.J. House (2-5, 4.97, 46k)
Arrieta has pitched better than his record but here is another game that the Cubs, theoretically should be able to drive in runs early and give Arrieta a nice cushion.
Wada is coming off of a complete game shut out and Kluber is coming off a Cy Young caliber season and is continuing that success despite pitching for a struggling team.
The Cubs got yet another quality pitching performance from their starter, this time Kyle Hendricks was the man to lead the Cubs to victory going 6 innings and only giving up 5 hits in the game. The Cubs bullpen did not give up any runs or hits during the game as a testament to the abilities of Brian Schlitter, Pedro Strop and Hector Rondon. Strop picked up his 10th hold on the season and Rondon his 14th save.
The Cubs hit the ball hard against the Indians and Trevor Bauer but were only able to collect 2 runs off of 8 hits.
Mike Baxter was an unexpected star as he went 3-4 and has raised his average after this spot start to the mid .200s.
Post Game Roster Move!!!!
This is a major move made by the Cubs going into a 2nd game with the Indians followed by 6 games in AL ball parks. The Cubs have a short bench and when they played the Tigers really needed a DH with some extra pop.
The Cubs have called up their #1 pick from last year, Catcher Kyle Schwarber with the intent of having him get some big league coaching as well as serve as the DH for all 6 games in AL ballparks before earning a promotion from AA Tennessee where he has been recalled from to AAA Iowa regardless of how he does during his week in the bigs. To make room for Schwarber, the Cubs optioned Brian Schlitter to AAA Iowa and Designated Rafael Lopez for assignment with intent to resign him after his 10 day period of waivers.
The Cubs had it wrapped up, had a cushion, had a lead and seem to have let off the gas pedal. The Cubs had a 8-3 lead in the 9th inning, with one out when all of a sudden the wheels fell off completely.
In a game in which the Cubs couldn't help but hit the ball after a 3 game winning streak they were up 8-3 and just couldn't get the job done. Kyle Schwarber got his first career hit in a pinch hit opportunity and the Cubs had a total of 14 hits but struggled to knock in all the runs that they had opportunities knock them in.
In the 9th inning, Zach Rosscup went out for his 2nd inning and after striking out the first batter came up with a shoulder problem. Justin Grimm was brought in, thinking that he needed to get two outs with no one on to end the game.... Easier said then done as the Indians exploded for 6 runs in the inning. 4 off of Grimm until Hector Rondon was warmed up. Rondon came in and served up two hits, one of which was a home run by Yan Gomes for the Indians to take the lead despite having two outs.
The Cubs couldn't strike back in the 9th inning and lost a heartbreaker of a game to the Indians.
Post Game Roster Moves
Zach Rosscup was placed on the 15 day disabled list.
Yoervis Medina was recalled from Triple A Iowa.
The Cubs have also announced another move, that Pedro Strop will be moved to the role of closer after the 3rd loss suffered by Hector Rondon after his 4th blown save of the season. Strop has had 1 blown save on the season but also has an ERA under 1.00 and a whip of 0.31.
Jake Arrieta once again dazzled in his start allowing minimal hits against him as only 4 hits were given up in 7 and a third innings. The Cubs bullpen allowed an inherited runner to score and cost Arrieta 7 innings of shutout baseball when James Russell allowed two different hits to happen which allowed the runner to score.
The Cubs were able to shut down the Indians tonight, unlike last night when Pedro Strop was able to go 3 up and 3 down in the 9th inning to record his first save of the year.
"We have not made a 100% change in who our closer is right now but we are going to go with whoever is hot for the moment, Pedro is the guy that is hot so we will get the other guys some work but for the meantime in high leverage situations it might be Pedro who we go to right away."
The Cubs offense was boosted from two separate home runs, one from Chris Coghlan and another from Miguel Montero.
The Cubs look to wrap up their series with the Indians tomorrow.
The Cubs jumped out to another large lead over the Indians just like they had in all four games of the series, but just like two games ago in Chicago the Cubs wasted away a quality start and early offense on the back end.
The Cubs bullpen faltered in the 9th inning two days ago and tonight faltered in the 8th inning in Cleveland. The Cubs were up 3-2 going into the 8th with 3 lefties due to bat for the Indians. With that coming the Cubs elected to bring in James Russell despite Yoervis Medina getting three outs in the previous inning, his first with the Cubs. Russell who has allowed many inherited runners to score this season once again was hit hard this time allowing 3 runs to score in the inning before Jason Motte was able to be warmed up to take his place.
Motte got out of the 8th inning as he came in with two outs in the inning but was unable to get out of the 9th inning due to two hits against him in the inning and the Indians would win off the bat of Michael Bourn.
"Our bullpen is struggling right now, especially on the back half. Guys like Edwin Jackson and Travis Wood are getting closer to getting those high leverage situations. We are really hurting with Rosscup and Ramirez on the DL. We recently signed Soriano but he hasn't made it out of the DR just yet. We are hoping to build on our early offense though as we chase Kluber in 4 innings."
Other hopeful news is that Addison Russell has been on a bit of a tear the past two weeks and has brought his average to the mendoza line.
Fun Fact: The Mendoza line, for those that don't know is named after a player that actually hit .215 in his career but the name still correlates to .200 batting average on the season/career, that player was Mario Mendoza who played from 1974-1982 for the Pirates, Rangers and Mariners and is even in the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame.
Chicago Cubs at Cleveland Indians
Jun 18, 2015
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Chicago (35-32)
0
2
0
3
0
0
0
0
0
5
5
0
Cleveland (27-38)
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
3
1
6
13
0
W: Shaw (4-3) L: Motte (0-4)
Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS
CHC
CLE
CHC
2
Schwarber singles, Montero scores, Denorfia to 3rd
1
0
CHC
2
Russell singles, Denorfia scores, Schwarber to 2nd
2
0
CHC
4
Russell Walks, Coghlan scores, Denorfia to 3rd, Schwarber to 2nd
3
0
CHC
4
Fowler grounds into double play, Denorfia scores, Scwarber to 3rd, Russell out at 2nd
4
0
CHC
4
Schwarber scores on Wild Pitch
5
0
CLE
6
Santana homers, Kipnis scores
5
2
CLE
8
Moss homers (100th career), Santana scores
5
4
CLE
8
Murphy doubles, Brantley (Running for Chisenhall) scores
Planning to keep Castro longterm or slide Russell back to short?
At this point Castro is more valuable to me, for whatever reason I can't seem to hit well with Russell no matter what I do. Castro's swing is better in my opinion so for now it will be Castro. However the way that Bryant is playing 3B I am going to have to seriously consider Russell, Baez or Castro playing 3rd base here soon.
At this point Castro is more valuable to me, for whatever reason I can't seem to hit well with Russell no matter what I do. Castro's swing is better in my opinion so for now it will be Castro. However the way that Bryant is playing 3B I am going to have to seriously consider Russell, Baez or Castro playing 3rd base here soon.
07-01-2015, 06:36 PM
