WHEW. For the second straight day: WHEW.
The Cubs just managed to hold on to beat the Padres by one again today, with Craig Kimbrel walking the tight rope while trying to close one out in the heat for the second straight day. But a win is a win.
Like yesterday, it was a brutal day to play baseball, between the extreme heat and humidity. For the pitchers, you throw in a wind that was blowing out for most of the game, and it was just a tough day. I can give Jose Quintana a pass on some of the results in this one.
It’s harder to give a pass on some of the defensive blunders and baserunning mistakes – Addison Russell figured prominently in both – even as I’m sure the elements contributed a little, I’m just a little exhausted by some of it. More on that later.
It was nice to see a clean inning from Pedro Strop, even as I still don’t think he should be in that 8th inning setup role right now. He threw just one fastball in the frame, though, which is interesting.
How about this guy, though, getting back on track (and a beautiful tag in the 9th, too) …