Cubs Rally Past Cards; Tigers Rally Past White Sox

September 24, 2014 @ admin → No Comments

Midweek musings: The Chicago Cubs played spoiler Tuesday night. To a much lesser degree, so did the Chicago White Sox.

Video below of Playboy’s October Playmate Roxanna June.

* In their second-to-last home game of the season, the Cubs defeated the National League Central division-leading St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 in 10 innings. The victory prevented the Cardinals from reducing their magic number for clinching the division title. Welington Castillo’s run-scoring single won the game. The victory left the last-place Cubs with a 40-40 home record. Meaning Wednesday night’s game against the Cards is as close as the Cubs will be to playing a game of significance — to the Cubs and not their opponent — in September. And some of you out there in cyberspace had given up on the Cubs for this season. Shame on you.

* Speaking of the Cubs, shortstop Javier Baez went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. He did walk once as his batting average fell to .164. Pinch hitter Mike Olt struck out on three pitches as his batting average fell to .161. Olt has 99 strikeouts in 224 at-bats. Meaning he strikes out 44 percent of the time. Baez has 88 strikeouts in 195 at-bats. Meaning he strikes out 45 percent of the time. On the bright (?) side, this is a positive from a Cubs perspective. By striking out so frequently, the team does save money on baseballs for its home games. Which must explain Arismendy Alcantara’s presence in the lineup. He whiffed four times, giving him 86 for the season in 264 at-bats (33 percent).

* Someone (such as his manager or a Cubs coach) might want to tell Anthony Rizzo not to stand near home plate and admire balls he hits — such as the one in the 10th inning that went for a double. Oops. Betcha Rizzo gets away with that behavior without so much as a peep from just about all fans and/or media (sometimes difficult to tell the difference).

* As for the White Sox, they spoiled Detroit Tigers left-hander David Price’s shutout and chances for a victory by scoring three runs in the ninth inning. Never mind that the host Tigers scored a run in the ninth for a 4-3 victory and maintained their lead over Kansas City in the American League Central. The Tigers and Sox have a 9-9 record in their season series. Meaning the series finale Wednesday is of monumental importance (monumental having a different meaning for each team).

* Speaking of Wednesday’s series finale, it matches Detroit’s Jason Verlander vs. the Sox’ Chris Sale. And, yes, if the Tigers fail to reach the postseason, the Sox will be able to take partial credit for that.

* Speaking of Sale, chances are good that he will be the league leader in earned-run average. Unless his season finale matches the performance of Seattle’s Felix Hernandez, who allowed eight runs in 4 2/3 innings and saw his ERA balloon from 2.07 to 2.34. Sale is at 2.20. Wondering whether the Sox will monitor Sale’s start vs. Detroit by his pitches thrown or by his ERA as the game progresses.

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