Cubs and White Sox both walk off, but in different directions

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What should have been a thrilling, come from behind 3-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers became a gut wrenching 4-3 loss for the Cubs.  Cubs starter, Cole Hamels, was excellent, as he has been in each of his Cubs starts, going six innings, allowing two earned runs.  He left with a 2-1 deficit.  

The midday run of Javy Baez

The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the first when Javy Baez scored from first on an Anthony Rizzo single, coupled with a bobble by Brewers center fielder, Lorenzo Cain.  That lead held up until the Brewers pieced together a two-run rally off Hamels in the fifth.  The score stayed that way until the eighth inning.

Rizzo prevails over Hader

Anthony Rizzo launched a long, two-run homer off Brewers standout, Josh Hader to give the Cubs a 3-2 lead.  The home run was the first off Hader by a left-handed hitter this year.  Hader pitched 2.2 innings, throwing 35 pitches in his relief stint.  Brewers manager, Craig Counsel, was obviously going all in to take this series opener.  It looked like the gamble was going to blow up in his face, but the usually reliable Cubs bullpen, and Cubs manager, Joe Maddon, had other ideas.

Forget Carl Jr., let's go somewhere else

Carl Edwards Jr. was summonsed to pitch the bottom of the eighth.  He wasn’t up to the challenge.  He gave up two scratch hits and walked two hitters to bring in the tying run.  Edwards has wrestled the title of most mentally fragile Cubs reliever away from Justin Wilson.  Carl has closer’s stuff, but a middle reliever’s mindset.  Edwards was visibly upset when he didn’t get the call on a 3-2 pitch to Ryan Braun, which loaded the bases.  He should have been pulled then.  Edwards also didn’t get much help from Joe Maddon on the next hitter either.

Really Joe?

With Edwards behind on the count 2-0, Maddon got booted for arguing balls and strikes.  Neither of the two pitches called ball looked particularly egregious.  Actually, they looked like balls.  After Maddon was ejected, Edwards missed with the next two pitches by a mile to walk in the tying run.  I don’t think Maddon’s ejection helped Edwards any.

Was some rust showing?

One of my Cubs favorites, Steve Cishek, was terrible in the bottom of the ninth.  Cishek walked a batter and hit two more before being pulled in favor of Jesses Chavez.  Christian Yelich hit a hard ground ball that Cubs third baseman, Kris Bryant, made a nice play on, but followed it up with a terrible decision.  Bryant stepped on third and threw to first in an effort to complete a double play.  Yelich beat the throw and the Brewers had a walk off 4-3 win.  Bryant should have cut down the runner at the plate.

It's not 1969

The win pulls the Brewers to within four games off the Cubs.  If the Cubs win tomorrow, the bitterness of Sunday’s loss will be lost.  If the Brewers sweep the Cubs in this series, longtime Cubs fans may start ringing their hands.  Old habits are hard to break.

When it comes to talent buy, when it comes to credibility sell

After being inundated with a massive load of fertilizer by White Sox GM, Rick Hahn, Sox fans were treated to a thrilling 4-2 win over the Tigers.  Hahn announced the team wouldn’t be calling up Eloy Jimenez.  The Sox GM said the team wasn’t developing  21 year-old DHs.  I get the Sox not calling up Jimenez, but earlier Hahn had said service time wouldn’t be a factor in callus.  Yea, right Rick.  Hahn has a future in politics or selling used cars.

And Reynaldo still can't get a win

On the field, the Sox got another great start.  This time from Reynaldo Lopez.  Lopez went seven innings, giving up only a solo home run to Niko Goodrum.  Unfortunately for Lopez, in the White Sox continuing quest to keep Lopez’s victory total as low as possible, the only support Lopez got was a Nicky Delmonico homer leading off the game for the Sox.

Give up a late homer, get a win

The game was tied at 1-1 going into the ninth.  After Ian Hamilton left the game after pitching 1.1 scoreless innings,  Jace Fry came on and gave up a home run to Sox killer, Victor Martinez.  Not to worry, however.  Recently emerging late inning star, Dan Palka, homered in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game.  Two hitters later, Matt Davidson hit a walk off, two-run homer to give the Sox a 4-2 win.  The Sox aren’t a bad team.

Hopefully Eloy won't remember this in a few years

While Rick Hahn may have credibility issues, his ability to acquire talent has clearly been on display.  Look for Eloy Jimenez’s glove work to be good enough for the big show when it won’t minimize the Sox contract control over him.

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