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Cardinals at Cubs Recap: The St. Louis Matts did not quite have enough, drop game one 7-6

Matts Carpenter and Holliday both go yard while brethren Matt Adams goes 0-5 in loss to Cubs.

By lil_scooter93
This could be us, but you playin'.
This could be us, but you playin'.
Elsa

pre-game

Screen_shot_2014-07-25_at_7.50.14_pm


game

I am Wrigley Field. I am a behemoth - not in size, but in difficulty. I am where fly balls turn into dingers. I am where fly balls and popups swirl in the air in unpredictable patterns, making fielders look foolish. Instead of soft outfield walls, I welcome outfielders with brick, daring them to crash with abandon against my ivy covered exterior. I am where pitchers' ERAs go to die.

Things I do not like about Wrigley Field:

  1. Wind tunnels
  2. Afternoon weekday games
  3. Hard, brick walls
  4. The Cubs
  5. In-play bullpens
Things I like about Wrigley Field:

I guess it is cute.

See, I really hate Wrigley afternoon games because they are in the afternoon, and they usually are super long and high scoring. It makes me tired and want to fall asleep, which I cannot do if I have a recap to write. And if I had fallen asleep during this game, chances are I would have missed something important.

It has been said, and I would believe it, that mangers over the course of a season really do not affect much. This game was not a good example of that. With both starters out early (Travis Wood out after five innings with 113 pitches, Joe Kelly out with two outs in the fifth), it would be up to the managers to push the right buttons today. Ooooh boy, we might be in trouble. The game would go back and forth with no team taking command, with five home runs on the day and four lead changes.

I am going to give you the cliff notes of what went on, because honestly, if I described every scoring play in detail, I would have written 2000 words. The only two innings that were not scored in were the eighth and ninth, and there were still hits. To paint you a better word picture on how this game went, Daniel Descalso ended up as the Cardinals last hope. For all the trouble he gets, he put up an admirable fight, taking a tough back door slider and fouling of some pitches at 95+, but not even an old vet like he could win this one for us.

There were several questionable decisions by Mike Matheny today, some I am sure he would do differently if given another chance, like leaving Kevin Siegrist, who last pitched May 23, in to face Luis Valbuena after already pitching one inning and one out and hitting Anthony Rizzo. Valbuena would homer, scoring two runs and giving the Cubs a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the seventh that they would not relinquish (although they tried).

So instead of lamenting missed opportunities, like having Mark Ellis attempt to bunt Jon Jay to second with no outs in the top of sixth against a lefty, or Kolten Wong's TOOTBLAN in the top of the eighth, let me leave you with something cool - Pat Neshek's at bat against Emilio Bonifacio in the eighth.
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That change-up can be breath-taking.

post-game

LIL_SCOOTER'S PAIN IN THE ASS OF THE GAME:

Luis Valbuena is so pesky. His .424 WPA leads all players. He also scored two runs and batted two runs in.


Source: FanGraphs

TWEETS/GAMETHREAD COMMENTS OF THE GAME:

(For the background story on this last tweet, see here. If we had won, one of these was going to be the headline to this recap.)

This was a game the Cardinals really, really would have liked to win. They have now lost four in a row and sit 3.5 back of the Brewers (pending the outcome of the Brewers/Mets game going on now). Games are becoming more precious, and while the tough part of the schedule is pretty much over, beating these losing teams are crucial, but you don't need me to tell you that. Tomorrow Shelby Miller faces Jake Arrieta. This match-up makes me nervous, especially if the wind is blowing out again.  The game begins at 3:05pm CST. Be there or be... not there, but you should really just watch it, okay.

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