JULY 3, 2015

3 July:

The #New York Mets are certainly glad the Chicago Cubs are done with them.

The Cubs took all seven contests this year; finishing with a decisive 6-1 getaway day game Thursday. Jake Arrieta (W, 8-5) out dueled Jacob deGrom (L, 8-6) in a game that was a little closer than the score reflected.

Nursing a fairly precarious 4-1 lead, the #Cubs broke it open with a 2 run shot off of Miguel Montero’s bat in the 9th. That matched Jonathan Herrera’s first of the year earlier, with Mike Baxter aboard.

The Mets just flat out can’t hit. The baseball gods punished the New York organization; it’s one thing to have a boatload of good pitchers but another to have Dan Murphy (.284/4/29) as your best guy.

You HAVE to score a run every now or then.

The #Cubs are a little- not a lot, but enough- more balanced, they have good enough pitching and a little more hitting. They had the snake bit Met club right where they wanted them; on their heels and reactive.

Arrieta went 8 strong; giving up only one run while striking out 7 and walking none.

Meanwhile, the #Chicago #White Sox, owner’s of the worst record in the AL, took on the St Louis Cardinals, with not only the best record in the NL but the best home record in the game and beat them in a pair of contests.

The Cubs picked up 2 1/2 games in the process.

That’s the gods speaking yet again; the lesson there is that NO team is that good (the Cards) nor is any team that bad (White Sox), and the Cards did their part by playing a horrible game Wednesday night.

They looked just awful out there; Kolten Wong kicking double play balls, a left handed reliever hitting both left handers he faced, a throw clanking off of Matt Carpenter’s mitt, and so on.

Welcome to the real world, St Louis. This is what happens to mere mortal teams.

Their lofty record will come back to earth, although maybe not enough for anyone to catch them. They could pretty much play .480 ball the rest of the way out and win 92 games.

Still, it was good to see. #Chris Sale mowing them on Tuesday was fun to watch.

The other lesson is that the Cubs are only out of this IF they choose to be. This league is closer than anyone thinks, and good teams stay close and move if they get hot.

Organizations like the Cards, San Francisco and Atlanta come to mind. You won’t win every year, but if you have a professional club who can hang in there you just MIGHT catch some lightning.

Theo has that choice coming up. Make a bold move or stand pat.

The All Star break is coming in a few weeks. We’ll all know a lot more by then…

#Jason Hammel takes on T#om Koehler (6-4, 3.66) Friday; 1:20 start, CSN TV, ESPN2, WBBM radio