All right, all right. A very nice series win. Sure, the Giants are not healthy, and not looking like a great team, but literally any time you win a four-game series against another MLB team, it’s a good series win.
This was an odd one in a number of respects. The Cubs got three solo homers (ALL THE SOLO HOMERS), and added two insurance runs on a single pitch without a ball in play (wild pitch with the bases loaded, and then Buster Posey threw the ball away).
The Giants got a run in the first inning, and then a whole lot of nothing, despite hitting the ball hard all day. The Cubs’ defense played a big part of that, but much of it was blind luck.
Eddie Butler limited the walks this time around, but that doesn’t mean he had great command. The stuff was less impressive than that first outing, and without much command, Butler was way too hittable in the zone – and boy did he get hit. Thankfully, the aforementioned bad BABIP luck for the Giants and a couple nice plays in the field limited the damage to just one run, but I don’t want anyone to leave this start feeling especially encouraged. Butler gave up a ton of hard contact in this one. An unnerving amount. There is still work to do.
Speaking of work to do: Kyle Schwarber struck out four times in four at bats, all swinging. They were not inspiring moments, and, you know, it’s a process. Days like today concern me much more than the stretches where he was putting good wood on the ball and finding gloves. Lots of swings and misses is something to watch much more closely.
Mike Montgomery pitched the final four innings of the game doing what you’d want to see with the lead: staying in the zone. He hasn’t done that consistently this season, so it was nice to see.
In total, though, it was an odd one. A good one. But an odd one. Especially this: