Game 4 Recap: Cubs 3, Brewers 4
Blown.
W - Villanueva (1-0), Poorly designed stadiums
L - Gregg (0-1), the three and a half hours I could have spent grading, that now need to be repaid.
Things to Take from This Game
1. Harden is just fine, thank you.
Harden hit 96 a couple times, sat at around 92, and gave up three hits, two walks (one intentional) and one earned run on a Hart solo homer through six innings. He also struck out ten with a nasty changeup and a well placed fastball. It's pretty cool to see that sort of line and think "yeah, that's about what we expect from our fourth starter." The other run against Harden was an unearned run in the first. (A slightly high Theriot throw pulled Lee off the bag, and eventually Braun drove in a run on a single.)
2. Likely and Unlikely HRs.
Bradley got off the O-fer with a huge solo homer, and Hill hit a go-ahead two-run homer that put Harden in line for a win.
3. But...
Lou hard to burn through his bullpen in the seventh and eighth, using Heilman, Cotts, Marmol, Marshall, Vizcaino and Gregg to preserve the lead going into the ninth. He also pinch hit with Miles with a chance to drive in an insurance run from third with one out in the eighth, when Hoffpauir also was available, and Miles gave us an inning-killing GIDP.
4. So...
A walk, a ground out, a Weeks game-tying double, and another walk into the ninth, and Gregg finds runners on first and third with one out in the ninth. Braun hits a medium-to-slow roller three steps to Theriot's right. Theriot chooses to try for the out at home instead of the double play, and Weeks just does get his hand on home in front of the tag. Brewers win the game.
The second-guessing begins, below.
Game Recap
Pregame
- Woo, I finally get to see my first game on WGN! Len tells me that the weather in Milwaukee resembles me: cold and blustery. Therefore, the dome is closed.
Inning 1 - Top
- First pitch of the game, Soriano fouls off a Lopper pitch wide of third.
- Leads to a swinging strikeout, way out in front of a splitter.
- Fukudome up, takes a fastball strike.
- And Fukudome rolls out to Hardy.
- Lee walks.
- Len and Bob point out how the sunlight is pouring through the windows, sort of cathedral-style, making it hard to see fly balls.
- 3-2 to Bradley, another easy roller to Hardy.
Inning 1 - Bottom
- 91 mph fastball from Harden, inside ball one for his first pitch.
- Weeks swings and misses at the next fastball, also 91
- Len and Bob telling us how Harden says velocity isn't as important as changing speeds. Len and Bob readily concur. Sounds like some obvious effort from all to downplay the decline in velocity
- 93 mph inside to weeks. 2-2 count.
- Slow roller just to the right of Theriot, he rushes the throw just a bit, and it's a bit high and left causing Lee to reach. Lee has to slide just a bit towards the baserunner, and might have been a bit distracted as the ball glances off the tip of his glove. Throwing error on Theriot. Weeks to second.
- Hart with a nice bunt up the first base line, LEe gets it, tags out Hardy who had passed Harden in race to the bag. Sacrifice, Weeks to third.
- Braun sneaks a grounder into right on a low and inside fastball for an RBI single. 1-0 Brewers
- 91 mph fastball inside corner gets Fielder swinging.
- 93 mph fastball outside for ball 1 to Hardy. WGN tells us Harden has 613 K in 613.1 IP.
- Hardy flies out to Soriano right on the left-field line.
- I missed it, but Chad, Carlos and CincyKid and the parachatters telling me WGN gave a 94 and 96 reading on a couple of fastballs. Way to go, triple-C.
Inning 2 - Top
- Ramirez languidly glances at a wide fastball and takes the leadoff walk.
- Weeks playing toward the bag, and Fontenot hits one sharply right at him for the 4-6-3 GIDP.
- Theriot tries to make up for the error by doubling off the left-center wall on the fly. Surprising pull and power from Theriot.
- 3-1 count to Hill. Not much to hit in front of Harden with a RISP and 2 outs. And a curve for ball four.
- Harden misses a bunt and flails at two more pitches, a quick K.
Inning 2- Bottom
- WGN shows the footage of Joe Martinez taking a liner off the temple last night. I mentioned it a few years ago at TCR, and was told I was a female reproductive organ, but: MLB should invest in finding some sort of sleek protective headgear for pitchers and at least see if it's practical for pitchers to wear. We don't call Rip Hamilton a wimp for wearing a face mask in basketball, and I don't need to see a pitcher struck dead from a line drive. Some sort of thin padding for the temples, you could even fit it into the baseball cap....
- Cameron waves through a Harden changeup.
- Hall K's looking
- Kendall K's swinging, ball gets away, easily out at first. FB mostly at 94 this inning.
Inning 3 - Top
- Dempster is waving to someone in the opposing dugout, it seems. WGN catches it on camera. Funny.
- Soriano with a soft liner to Hart in right.
- 3-1 count to Fukudome. Swings at a high fastbal and hits a lazy fly to Braun.
- And an uninspired fly ball to Hart from Lee. Easy inning.
Inning 3 - Bottom
- The shadow patterns at Milwaukee for a day game with the roof closed are just nuts, and seem to change wildly by the inning. Last inning, the mound was in shadows and the plate in sunlight, and now it all is in sunlight save one interruption by a thick band of shadow..
- Looper with an easy bouncer to Theriot.
- Week K's on three pitches. 5 Ks for Harden.
- Hart takes an 86 mph slider and smites it way up into Toyota Tundra Territory in right-center. 2- 0 Brewers.
- Three pitches to Braun, culminating in a rising 96 mph fastball at which Braun feebly flails. 3 innings, 50 pitches, 0 BB and 6 K so far for Harden.
Inning 4 - Top
- Bradley takes what I think was a rolling inside slider and deposits it to the left-hand side of that Toyota Tundra Territory in right center, joining Braun's ball on the right side of the Tundra. Absolute shot. 2-1 Brewers.
- Aramis lines out to Braun, who is shielding his eyes from the glare.
- Fontenot pulls a ground-ball single through the 4-3 hole.
- Theriot up, Fontenot tries to steal second. Fastball up and a bit in, Theriot leans back, Fontenot out at second. Bob thinks it's a hit-and-run and Theriot should have been swinging. Yeah, LouPa looks unhappy. Jason Kendall has thrown out a Cub. Egads.
- Theriot walks.
- And now nearly gets picked off at first. Shaky start to the day for Theriot.
- And first pitch to Hill is a pitchout.
- Hill K's looking at a curve.
Inning 4 - Bottom
- 3-1 count to Fielder, an 85 mph changeup inside for ball four.
- 85 mph changeup strike to start off Hardy. 11 first pitch strikes to 14 batters
- low fastball for strike 3 looking to Hardy. Harden looking really sharp.
- Deep fly ball off Cameron's bat into left-center, Fukudome takes it, avoiding a collision with Soriano. Got the communication right at the last moment.
- 0-2 to Hall, he pops one into nearly medium-range left field. Soriano is playing very deep, and then gets a bad break on the ball. Theriot runs way out there, sees Soriano isn't close to it, calls of Soriano while Theriot still is running with his back to home plate, and then can't catch it. Theriot's miss on the play, but Soriano's fault. Fielder goes to third, Hall to second.
- Kendall intentionally walked to load the bases with two outs for Looper.
- 2-0 count on Looper as a fastball misses wide.
- Looper hits a 2-1 pitch up the middle. Harden quite deliberately kicks out his foot to try to do the kick-save, and the ball shoots up into the air just left of the second base bag. Initial reaction here is "oh god, we'll never get to that deflection, should have let Theriot try for it." Wrong, with the pitcher running Theriot is able to throw him out at first. Inning over, no damage.
Inning 5 - Top
- Harden bloops a single into left-center
- Soriano sharply lines one into left, Braun makes a nice running catch going back and to his left.
- Fukudome rolls a single through the right side hole, Harden to second.
- 3-2 to Lee, he thinks it's a fastball outside. Nope. Called strike three, Lee not too happy about it.
- 3-0 to Bradley.
- Bradley swinging on 3-0, flies out to Braun.
Inning 5 - Bottom
- The lighting in Milwaukee is awful. Theriot and Ramirez now dealing with the glare.
- Weeks K's swinging, I miss it as the UPS guy arrives.
- Hart makes a sorry excuse of an effort to hit a changeup, and strikes out.
- Braun pops to Fontenot. 84 pitches, 3 hits, two walks (one intentional) and 9 Ks through 5 for Harden.
Inning 6 - Top
- McClung in to pitch.
- Aramis flies to Cameron.
- and Fontenot to Hart. ~yawn~
- Theriot lines a single to left-center.
- Holy Crap. Hill takes a fastball opposite field and drives it just over the left-center field wall for a home run. I thought Cameron was a good bet to rob it, but no, it's 3-2, Cubs. Cameron got there just a bit too late, ball was another foot to his left.
- Harden, who now has the lead he deserves, strikes out.
Inning 6 - Bottom
- Controversial finish to the wiener-race, as the hot dog stumbles and dives across the finish line, not breaking the ribbon but instead diving below it, while the chorizo, I think it was, cuts through the ribbon. Official verdict still pending....
- Tenth strikeout for Harden as Fielder K's on a changeup.
- Harden still at 93 mph.
- Harden tries for another kick save on a roller up the middle by Hardy, misses, and the ball rolls directly to a waiting Fontenot. 4-3 putout.
- Cameron flies to Bradley on the warning track. Never a threat. Inning over.
Inning 7 - Top
- Soriano K's swinging at a high and tight fastball
- Fukudome hits a double inside the left-field foul line.
- Lee rolls to Hardy.
- Bradley walks on a full count. Bob admires how he watches each pitch he takes all the way into the glove.
- Ramirez rips a fastball on a 2-1 count up the middle, but Weeks makes a nice play, gets Aramis at first.
Inning 7 - Bottom
- Heilman in.
- Gyeh, walks Hall to leadoff the inning.
- Finally, the shadows in Milwaukee make sense.
- Kendall bunts to Lee, easy sacrifice. Tying run to second with one out.
- Craig Counsell in to hit for McClung, LouPa brings in Cotts
- Ball one to Counsell, who stays in to face Cotts.
- And Cotts hits Counsell with a fastball up and in on the hands.
- LouPa with a much, much slower walk up to the mound. LouPa is not a happy camper. Marmol coming in to put out the seventh inning fire. Marmol finishes his last bullpen toss with a highly stylized leg kick and spin on the delivery's follow-through.
- As Bob correctly points out, this right here is why Marmol is in the setup role, not the closer's role. We'll see.
- Marmol hangs a slider just a bit, but Weeks lines it right to Fontenot. No chance to double up either of the runners.
- 3-2, two outs to Hart with the runners on 1 and 2.
- Slider just high, called a ball, and Hart walks. Bases loaded for Ryan Braun. Marmol getting the slider up.
- Sean Marshall racing to get ready to face Fielder
- 97 mph fastball over the plate, Braun takes a huge rip and misses.
- another blazing fastball for called strike two. Braun not happy with it.
- Braun fights off a much better slider low and away, foul.
- Another good slider, easy fly to right, Bradley calls for it, has it. 3 pitchers to preserve the lead, but it is preserved!
Inning 8 - Top
- Fontenot sneaks a grounball between a diving Fielder and the first base line. Joke about the consequences of a diving Fielder, if you must. Double.
- Theriot grounds up the middle to Weeks, Fontenot advances on the out.
- Hill up, Marmol is in the on-deck circle. Ball one to Hill. Fastball over, 1-1, looks like they're not pitching around Hill. Surprised they're doing this. Slightly surprised they didn't double-switch in Marmol.
- Brewers disappointed they don't get the call on a check swing. 3-2 count.
- next pitch hits Hill in the shoe, he stumbles over himself.
- Miles hits for Marmol. Aaron Miles? As Bob points out, with Soto on the bench, Miles is the backup catcher, and Koyie Hill just got hit on the foot with a pinch. Why not hit Hoffpauir, the better hitter, who also lets you preserve your backup emergency catcher?
- Miles rolls into a pathetically easy 6-4-3 GIDP. Further commentary on this inning would be a case of cursing the darkness.
Inning 8 - Bottom
- Sean Marshall in to pitch the eighth.
- And starts out Fielder with a 3-0 count. Walks on five pitches. LouPa comes out, wanders around aimlessly and confused for a bit, before going to the home plate umpire to make the change. In comes Vizcaino.
- Rolling curve catches the outside corner, 0-1 to Hardy.
- Rolling curve, again, and Hardy lines one to deep left, Soriano battles the brutal glare of the sun, and makes a nice running backhanded catch to his right.
- Rolling curve, ball one. I am detecting a pattern here.
- Rolling curve (or, to be fair, it might be a rolling slider) check-swing foul.
- Bob tells me it's a slider that's rolling. Thanks Bob.
- Rolling slider, it is, speed fools Cameron, strike swinging, 2-1
- Thank god, something that doesn't roll. A fastball, 2-2 count.
- Vizcaino looks like he has a whole lot of nothing.
- Cameron bounces to Vizcaino, it bobbles out of his glove, he recovers and can only get the out at first. Cost us the potential double play. Gyeh. Two outs, runner on second.
- Gregg in.
- Gregg drops in a nice curvefor a strike on Hall.
- Swing and miss on an 88 mph fastball, strike two.
- A sharp slider, Hall not even close on the swing. 3-pitch strike out, we somehow, remarkably, still have the lead.
Inning 9 - Top
- Carlos Villanueva in to pitch.
- Soriano's bat splits in two as he bounces out to Hall.
- Fukudome called out on a check swing.
- Lee flies to straight-away center, where we discover that Chris Duffy has replaced Cameron.
Inning 9 - Bottom
- Kendal bounces to Aramis, who makes a nice lunging stretch to his left.
- Duffy must have come in on a double switch, and is up in the ninth spot.
- Huge curve just off the outside corner, 2-1 count on Duffy. Now a slider just high for ball three.
- Swings through a fastball, 3-2.
- Something, I'm not sure what, bounces in the dirt for ball four.
- Weeks up, and lines a fastball to deep left. Soriano struggles to read it in the sunlight, and probably never really had a chance to catch up to it. One-hops the wall for a double, game tied at 3. Nuts.
- Len points out that as we've burned through our relievers, we're left with Guzman, who LouPa wants to rest today, and Patton. And that's if we make it out of this inning with the winning run on 2nd and one out.
- Hart swings over a slider. 2-2 count.
- Next pitch skips away from Hill just a bit, and Weeks takes third.
- In comes the infield and the outfield.
- Hart walks. No biggie. DP now in order, Braun up.
- Braun rolls a ball just to Theriot's right. It's not a perfect GIDP ball, but Theriot probably should go for the 6-4-3. Instead he throws home, one-hopping Hill who tries to keep the plate blocked while tagging Weeks. It doesn't quite work, as Weeks' left hand just does crash through for the winning run. Hill is livid, spikes the ball and yells at the ump. Replays show the ump got the call correct, it's Theriot whose call needs to be questioned.
Parachat Recap
Pregame
- I enter Parachat and see the announcement "In Rob's absence, Wes is in charge." Nice kick in the nuts, Rob.
- There. Entrance message fixed to say "With Rob away from Parachat, Transmission has changed the locks."
- Next up, using admin. controls to ban rob.
- Deep Throat.
Inning 1
- Our mutiny carries into the game, as we're going to overthrow TCR and make it The Royal Reporter.
- Teams that lack a good fan blog. White Sox, among others, due to Sox fans being poor. Because the best way to insult your rivals is to joke that they are poor. ha, ha.
- Trans makes the first Adenhart joke. Trans, who actually was quite bothered by the news, quickly buries his saddness underneath a veneer of cruely too-soon humor.
- Gestures, pointless and pointed.
- Vin Scully's commentary on Adenhart's passing. I had the incredible good luck of hearing it live while watching my mlb.tv telecast in the office yesterday. Thanks for the link to the transcript, Carlos.
- We love Scully.
Inning 2
- Broadcasting styles we do and don't like.
- Theriot's range at short.
- Discussing the clip of the horrific Joe Martinez injury from last night.
- Best right-handed change-ups?
- Jason Kendall's fantasy value.
Inning 3
- British keyboard magazines
- Bad Jeopardy Answers to Baseball Movie Questions.
- Carlos has submitted three consecutive links to parachat thatare not contrary to the laws of god or nature. Impressive.
- Hell freezes over.
Inning 4
- CincyKid identifies Crunch's favorite Price is Right contestant.
- Unprofessional email addresses.
- The most incredibly coincidentally appropriate entrance by a parachatter, ever, comes as Four_and_Twenty enters immediately following the Price is Right contestant discussion.
- Wes, that Rob G brown-nosing jerk, joins. You brown-nosing jerk.
- Annoying/alarming parachat sounds.
- I need a thesaurus.
Inning 5
- Computers.
- Carlos thinks four_and_twenty secretly is Ted Lilly Fan Club.
- The conversation has lost me entirely. Seriously, I don't have the slightest idea what anyone is talking about.
- Parachat is being invaded by the Killer C's: Carlos, Chad, CincyKid, CPH2133, Crunch, CT_Steve, MikeC, Mornington Crescent, token_cripple. Only Four_and_Twenty, Wes and me remain C-less.
- Crunch tells me I fear being Cransmission. True.
- Life in dumbfuckistan, learning the culture of the dumbfuckistanies.
- and in the United Retard Emirates.
Inning 6
- Wes's accidental purchase of transsexual porn, and its relation to Seth McClung
- Discussing the sausage-fest at Milwaukee
- Why is it that Wes knows the names of each of the Milwaukee Meats?
Inning 7
- Baseball injuries: for or against them?
- Is this ESPN poll in bad taste, stupid, or both?
- yes
- Now, four_and_twenty is suspected of being Bob Brenly.
- You know life is bad when someone from MSNBC is asking you who the Mike's Hard Lemonade is for....
- Wow, parachatters seem to know a lot about the To Catch a Predator show. hmm.
- That child-predator "look"
Inning 8
- How we like our Marmol-ade
- spread all over the place, of course.
- Aaron Miles? Seriously?
- Parachat not thrilled with LouPa's decisions today.
- Tense parachat.
Inning 9
- How much do we like Gregg as our closer?
- Trauma.
- Recriminations.
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