Cole Hamels’ debut: huge success. Without question, the stuff was looking fantastic, and he looked – for one night at least – like a guy who could be exactly what the Cubs were hoping when they traded for him. That is, a perfectly solid starter who can consistently give the Cubs a chance to win.
… especially when the Pirates are just giving away runs like they did tonight. To be sure, the Cubs did present quite a bit of offense on their own, but between the errors, the bases loaded walks, and the “productive outs,” the Cubs sure did score in a lot of non-traditional ways tonight. I liked it.
That’s how you score nine runs despite going a dreadful 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position, by the way.
Brandon Kintzler also made his Cubs debut tonight, going 1.1 scoreless (as if to say to the Nationals, “Oh, you wanted a multi-inning guy, eh?”)
Tyler Chatwood made his bullpen debut, charged with protecting a 9-2 lead. That’s acceptable. He allowed a walk and a hit in the 9th inning, but did not give up any runs.