The Cubs won the game, but I don’t know how many smiles there will be right now.
It is in the nature of fandom to vacillate wildly between extreme positivity and negativity, so I wasn’t even surprised to find myself without even a shred of optimism that the Cubs would hang onto their slim lead late or eventually win after losing that lead. I just kinda forgot what it felt like to be really optimistic. And it’s only been like a couple weeks of bad baseball.
Then, when the Cubs did finally take the lead again in the 10th inning, there was no joy to be had – at least not for long after Javy Baez’s run-scoring bunt single – because what followed was as inexplicable as it was terrifying.
With the bases loaded and one out in the 10th, after the Cubs had scored one to take the lead, Joe Maddon elected to allow Pedro Strop to hit for himself rather than – for example – going to Tommy La Stella. Strop had already thrown 21 pitches across 1.2 innings, by the way. Not only did Strop ground into an inning-ending double play, he left the game with the trainer, appearing to have a leg issue. There aren’t printable words for my immediate and severe reaction, so I’m taking a breath to hear the explanation.
So, pending an update on Strop’s condition, the Cubs may have lost the *one* reliable reliever they have left in the bullpen (somebody bubblewrap Jesse Chavez, I guess). I feel sick to my stomach.
At least they won this woebegone BS game …