Cubs’ Pitching Shines in Wild Card Win, Will Key Potential DS Success
There were many appealing aspects of the Cubs’ win against the Padres earlier this week, with their defense stealing the show and timely hitting providing just enough offense. Though the bats didn’t really wake up during the three-game set, key home runs from Seiya Suzuki and Carson Kelly gave them the win on Tuesday. Michael Busch‘s seventh-inning blast on Thursday provided insurance as they went on to clinch the series with a 3-1 victory.
That said, scoring only six runs in a three-game span forced the pitching staff to step up. It was the combined effort of the starters and relievers that eventually propelled the Cubs to the Division Series. Matthew Boyd was nothing short of dominant at Wrigley Field during the regular season. In 89.2 innings, the southpaw posted a 2.70 ERA with only 14 walks allowed. He continued that positive trend in Game 1, allowing one run in his 4.1 innings of work. He only threw 58 pitches, which weighed heavily in Craig Counsell‘s choice to start him again on Saturday in Milwaukee.
Despite his recent struggles to cap off the season, Shota Imanaga was cruising until the 5th inning rolled around. Manny Machado‘s two-run home run killed whatever momentum the Cubs had, and it made Imanaga’s outing seem worse than it really was. His four innings of two-run ball were just one run worse than Boyd’s, but the offense was nonexistent against Dylan Cease and the Padres’ electric bullpen (specifically Mason Miller, who may not be human).
In the biggest start of his Cubs career, Jameson Taillon set the tone in the final game of the series with four scoreless innings. He only allowed two baserunners, getting some help from the previously mentioned electric defense as he navigated through San Diego’s batting order. In total, the Cubs’ three “starting” pitchers combined to allow just three earned runs in 12.1 innings. They did everything that was asked of them, and then some. The bullpen was even more impressive, though, as they allowed just two runs all series.
After Boyd allowed one run on Tuesday, Daniel Palencia threw 1.2 flawless innings with two strikeouts. It got to the point where he was just throwing fastballs as hard as he could, and it worked. Drew Pomeranz, Andrew Kittredge, and Brad Keller followed suit with perfect innings of their own. In total, the Counsell’s bullpen faced 14 batters, recording 14 straight outs. When the lights were bright in the first playoff game of the postseason, the arms showed up.
Kittredge’s earned run as he opened for Imanaga in Game 2 put a small damper on the bullpen’s performance, but the fact that he only gave up one run after finding himself in an early jam is an achievement in itself. Imanaga was relieved by Caleb Thielbar, Colin Rea, Taylor Rogers, and Michael Soroka, all four of whom worked scoreless outings.
Counsell made five different pitching changes to record 27 outs on Thursday. After working a scoreless 8th inning, Keller found himself in a heap of trouble in the 9th. Jackson Merrill homered to break up the shutout, then Keller got a strikeout before hitting consecutive batters to bring the winning run to the plate. Kittredge was called upon for the third straight game and got the Cubs out of the inning to secure the series win.
There were many tough decisions made in the three games, but almost every single one ended up working out in the Cubs’ favor. Counsell did a fantastic job in his first playoff series with the North Siders, and now he has to face his former team in a scene that feels like it’s straight out of a movie script.
Although it will be hard to keep up this near perfection over a longer stretch against one of the best teams in baseball, Counsell needs his pitching staff to keep up the dominant work and move the team along to the next round.
