I’m not sure you can excuse a major league team for ruining a summary, but I guess if it’s going to happen, it probably will happen when you’re out of practice. Shrug. That still feels like an excuse. Then I remove it. This was very, very bad.
If you missed it yesterday, in the second inning, the Cubs tossed Lorenzo Cain out of second base, but they made at least too many pitches, particularly the type where you haven’t reduced runner space, and you’re giving it your all. type of running room, and Cain took advantage:
The Cubs go to new levels to keep everyone safe. #ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/qiTtaQcwlp
– Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 25, 2020
To be sure, it was ALSO a big mistake not to have someone driving first base, which would have allowed the Cubs to walk the ball to second base to get out. But even the summary itself has to run much better and faster than that. I have no idea why Kipnis didn’t help squeeze Cain after Baez and Bryant had successfully narrowed their area * OR ALTERNATIVELY * why Bryant didn’t keep pushing Cain back to second place. Either way it would have worked. But instead, you had Kipnis hanging up and Bryant pulling early. That opened the door to what followed, including no one hanging at first base.
Ultimately, the mistake not only led to the tie run score, but it cost Yu Darvish another 10 more effortful throws and difficult entry. Who knows what impact it had on his inability to control the command in the third and fourth innings? That’s always the hidden cost of hitting the other team for free at bat. It doesn’t mean that this move changed the game, it probably didn’t. It just means you can’t know the full cost for sure, and you can I know it definitely hurts.
And the maximum humiliation? This was not the first time this exact thing It has happened to the Cubs against the Brewers, who mocked the situation two years ago:
Abbott and Costello have nothing on Yelich and Cain. pic.twitter.com/u759Bx2lae
– Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) June 13, 2018
In that case, the first few pitches didn’t help, but also, why do you end up with four Cubs at second base and none at first base? How can that be the correct lineup, with multiple players at home (again)?
The Cubs coach only made perfunctory public comments about the situation, which I think is just when it’s the second game of the season:
Ross, in the sloppy failed in the second inning:
“We have to handle that better, no doubt. I think everyone, faced with a man, would admit that. We have to handle that situation better. Every exit matters. Every release matters.”
– Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) July 25, 2020
We hope there will be a slightly more detailed conversation with the coaching staff and players to make sure they are on the same page in the future so that this does not happen a third time against the Brewers …
