against the vaunted Cub offense. How impressive was Chase? His line was a solid 7 IP, 6 Ks, 2 walks, and 1 hit yielded. The bullpen needed a strong, long outing from Chase, and the guy delivered. Thank you Chase, you were much fun to watch last night. The Cubbie fans on Twitter were not happy about the strike zone, but so what? Chatwood got a few freebies too. Speaking of Chatwood…
Shaw lit him up last night. Managing two doubles and four RBIs, Shaw led the way. It was still disappointing see the Brewers let Chatwood off the hook. With Shaw on 3rd base with one out in the 1st inning, both Showmingo and Villar struck out. And with runners on 1st and 2nd base with no outs in the 3rd, Domingo, Villar, and Pina could do nothing but ground out to end the inning.
In the end, it didn’t matter. It would have nice to have had 6 runs on Chatwood, but Chase, Williams, and Barnes combined to keep the Cub bats silent. An excellent game to watch last night.
Other Notes
Cain / Yelich : Not much to say on this play, as it was all over the web last night after it happened. I’m just happy that Cain didn’t give props to Ed Sedar for that brilliant base running maneuver…speaking of Sedar…
Sedar Alert : What the hell was Sedar doing trying to get Yelich to advance to 3rd base on that Chatwood error in the 3rd inning? Does Sedar not know that Baez has cannon for an arm? The replay clearly showed that Yelich would have been out at 3rd base had he followed “the windmill” Sedar’s lead…thank you Yelich for not going. As I’ve said before, we are on to you Sedar…I’m guessing those reviews of team defenses on the golf course missed that update on Baez’s arm?
Villar, Arcia, and Showmingo: I want to see these guys do well, but I’m concerned long term about their presence in the bottom of the order. Arcia looks completely lost at the plate; Domingo hasn’t showed much plate patience and is striking out a lot, and Villar…well we all know what Villar brings to the table. It’s maddening to watch a guy do nothing when guys are on base, only to see him generate hits in very low probability scoring situations.
Thames the OBP Beast : of yes, he’s back. The former La Crosse Logger legend looked ok at both the plate and on defense. He managed two k’s sadly, but I’m still bullish on him and his new look. I also have him on two fantasy baseball teams, so I’m also probably biased.
Williams looked NASTY : man, I love this guy. He is only getting better as the season progresses. He walks a tad too many, but his stuff is ridiculous when he is on.
Barnes looked good too : I know Barnes gets a lot of hate from the Kato’s of the world, but I’m hoping he has turned the corner this season. He was able to put away the top of the Cubs order in the 9th to hold down the win.
Top 5 / Worst 5 Plays
Shaw carried last night’s most valuable plate appearances. On the other end, we see Domingo and Villar (twice).
Today’s Matchup
Chacin vs Montgomery
Chacin has quietly been the Brewer’s best arm in the rotation this season. Montgomery has looked very good in a very small sample thus far in the season. The Brewers hit him pretty good last year, and as you can see below, hit lefties hard.
Mashers
It would be nice to see Jesus break out today and get back on the mash train. I’m also hoping Braun can keep his bat on fire.
Prediction
I think Milwaukee has a 58% chance to win today. Fangraph’s are showing MIL’s chance of victory at 48.1%. Silver is at a 50/50 chance for MIL win. Let’s go Crew.