GAME THREAD CUBS/DODGERS LCS

I don’t think Enrique should start game 3.

I’m leaning toward Curtis LF, Charlie SS and Taylor CF but might be convinced of Joc in CF and Taylor at SS

It’s just hard to tell if it’s worth it to have Joc in CF if he can’t even hit

 

Was at the Kings game during the ending of the game. Me and about fifty others were crowded around the TVs watching the game. Nearly missed the first period.

 

Lights-out bullpen saving Dodgers in NLCS
Relievers haven't allowed a hit in eight innings of work
by Ken Gurnick | MLB.com — 1 hour ago

LOS ANGELES -- At the risk of jinxing it, the Dodgers' bullpen has a no-hitter through eight innings of work during the National League Championship Series presented by Camping World.

Starters going deep? Needless. The Dodgers have two wins over the Cubs with starting pitchers Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill throwing five innings each. Neither was around long enough to get victories, which went to Kenta Maeda in Game 1 and Kenley Jansen in Game 2, Sunday night's 4-1 win on Justin Turner's three-run blast in the bottom of the ninth.

"It's not necessarily a pitch count thing for any of our guys," manager Dave Roberts said of the quick hooks for the starters, even Kershaw, in the postseason. "You're essentially counting outs and trying to get the best matchup for your guys. It goes back to the trust that we have in our 'pen and for each of our starters. It's a matter of giving everything you have for as long as you can."

Until Jansen hit Anthony Rizzo with a pitch with one out in the ninth, the bullpen had retired 22 consecutive batters, the longest streak by any team's bullpen to begin any postseason series in history, according to Elias -- and five more than the previous record held by the 1996 Rangers in the AL Division Series.

"They're just executing pitches and they're ready when called upon and they're competing," said Roberts. "It's a close-knit group down there. Josh Bard, our bullpen coach, has done a fantastic job with those guys, along with [pitching coach] Rick Honeycutt. And just the preparation. Those guys know exactly what they want to do, and they're going out there and executing."

And it's not just Jansen, though he's duplicating his workhorse showcase of last October with six of seven outs by strikeout. In Game 2, Brandon Morrow followed Hill with two perfect innings after retiring both batters he faced Saturday night. Morrow got six outs with 18 pitches. It took Cubs starter Jon Lester 103 pitches to get 14 outs.

Kenley Jansen pitched a fantastic 9th, striking out a pair and stranding the lone runner to reach base

"The velocity is plus-plus, and the slider plus-plus," Roberts said of Morrow, whose fastball average has jumped three miles an hour after four years of injuries. "So now you take those components as far as the head, the preparation, the feel, and the pitch mix, that makes an elite back-end guy.

After Morrow, Josh Fields got his lone batter out, Tony Watson got his two to get the ball to Jansen. Maeda was warming up in the bullpen if the game went extra innings, even though it would have been his first appearances in his career on back-to-back days.

Of course, everything funnels to Jansen, who is looking like an $80 million free-agent bargain. Roberts said there were times in the season when he gave the closer a breather to keep him fresh enough to be the important cog in these showcases.

"There have been times you look back in the season and Kenley was down," Roberts said. "And as a manager, that's not a good feeling, essentially to make that decision prior to the game that your closer's not going to pitch even in a save situation. But taking the long view, that's something that we believe as an organization."

 

don't think i'll be sleeping anytime soon...

 

love the few stones songs keith richards sang

 

maddon getting heat
i fucken love it

Joe Maddon pulled a Buck Showalter and it cost the Cubs Game 2 of the NLCS
by Bill Baer | NBC Sports — 7 hours ago



Last October, much was made of Orioles manager Buck Showalter opting not to use closer Zach Britton in a tense situation late in a playoff game. Britton was Showalter’s best pitcher last year but he chose to go with Ubaldo Jimenez and it cost the Orioles their chance to move on in the postseason.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon was guilty of a similar offense during Game 2 of the NLCS on Sunday night, but he won’t get nearly as much blowback for it because of his reputation as a savvy, unorthodox skipper.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, lefty Brian Duensing returned to the mound for his second inning of work. One probably wants closer Wade Davis in that situation rather than Duensing, especially if you figure hierarchy into the equation. Duensing walked Yasiel Puig to start the inning. Then, one should be leaning even more in favor of bringing Davis. Duensing stayed in. Charlie Culberson moved Puig to second base on a sacrifice bunt. Duensing then struck out pinch-hitter Kyle Farmer.

Maddon made the slow stroll to the mound. This must be the part were Davis comes in. Maddon instead brought in veteran starter John Lackey. Lackey is nearly 39 years old and did not have a great regular season, finishing with a 4.59 ERA over 170 2/3 innings. During the regular season, Davis struck out hitters 12.2 percent more often than Lackey while having an equivalent strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Lackey and catcher Willson Contreras couldn’t get on the same page as Lackey repeatedly asked for Contreras to go through the signs again. He fell behind Chris Taylor 3-1 before eventually walking him, bringing Turner to the plate. Turner is a great hitter and that may even be an understatement. He hardly struck out — his 10.3 K-rate was second-lowest among qualified hitters in baseball this season behind only Joe Panik. Facing Davis, though, increases the odds he does swing and miss. Turner took a first-pitch cutter in the dirt from Lackey for ball one, then drilled a 92 MPH fastball to left-center field for a walk-off three-run home run, winning Game 2 of the NLCS for the Dodgers by a 4-1 margin.

If, before Turner’s at-bat against Lackey, one were to rank the possible outcomes from likely to least likely, a home run is not that far from the top of the list. Lackey is just not that good anymore and he’s never been a bat-missing maven.

After the game, Maddon said, “We needed [Davis] for the save,” Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports. Maddon wanted to hold Davis for a situation his team was never guaranteed to reach, rather than utilizing him to bridge the gap to gaining a potential lead.

Managers are put under a microscope in the postseason. It’s just part of the game. Sometimes we are guilty of nitpicking, but this isn’t such a case. Maddon improperly utilized his personnel and his team is now behind two games to none in a best-of-seven series as a result.

 

So glad the Cubs don't have Chapman this year. Maddon went to him in just about every tight situation last year and nearly blew the dude's arm out.