That was a frustrating loss to a bad team. Goodnight.
Well, for the 2nd straight game, Tyler Chatwood got definitely KNOCKED AROUND early, enabling five balls in play in the very first inning, four of which were over 95 MPH in exit velocity (2 of which were over 107 MPH). And unlike last time, he was extremely wild throughout his look, surging more than a couple of fastballs in front of the plate, strolling 2 Tigers in the first inning and 3 more in the 2nd inning before his outing was over. Yikes.
While Jose Quintana (likewise returning from the injury list tonight) entered into this game and spun 3 scoreless innings, he ran into some hard contact in the 6th that eventually chased him from the game with a run scored, no outs, and runners at the corners. Casey Sadler can be found in to eliminate him, strolled the first batter, and promptly quit a grand slam, putting everything far out of reach. All thing considered, it wasnt a horrible return for Q, who simply looked tired out by the end of his trip, but it ended on a really sour note.
The real story tonight was the bats … or do not have thereof. The Cubs ultimately had just 4 hits and 3 strolls in this one, with simply one run scored (a late, solo homer by Willson Contreras (which, to be reasonable, was nice to see)).
There was a TON of difficult contact– by both sides, really: 28 balls in play with an exit speed over 90 MPH, 15 of which were AT LEAST 100 MPH hour. It simply wasnt enough. Baez did have a hit and smoked 2 other balls that discovered gloves and Jason Heyward hit a triple, but there was simply no offense. Once again. Its absolutely exhausting and Im not actually interested in excuses.
Full Box Score..
Chatwood was returning from a back injury that likely impacted his last start too, so we can offer him a little bit of slack here, but it was just a completely frustrating efficiency in a season too short to handle too many of those. A minimum of last time we might say he wasnt wild and was * just * knocked around, this time it was very much all bad. Duane Underwood Jr. came in and struck out previous Cubs prospect Jeimer Candelario as well as Niko Goodrum to end the risk.
It is an outright wonder that Chatwood left this outing with just 2 made runs. However that was the end of the wonders for the Cubs tonight.
Well, for the 2nd straight video game, Tyler Chatwood got definitely KNOCKED AROUND early, permitting 5 balls in play in the first inning, four of which were over 95 MPH in exit speed (two of which were over 107 MPH). And unlike last time, he was extremely wild throughout his appearance, increasing more than a few fastballs in front of the plate, strolling two Tigers in the very first inning and three more in the second inning before his trip was over. While Jose Quintana (likewise returning from the injury list tonight) came into this game and spun 3 scoreless innings, he ran into some hard contact in the 6th that eventually chased him from the video game with a run scored, no outs, and runners at the corners. There was a TON of tough contact– by both sides, actually: 28 balls in play with an exit velocity over 90 MPH, 15 of which were AT LEAST 100 MPH hour.
