For folks who were trying to do double-duty tonight like I was, the Cubs nicely obliged by taking the lead in the middle innings in a big way – Kyle Schwarber’s grand slam was particularly helpful – and keeping it there. Keep the stress and anger in one game only.
Jose Quintana wasn’t at his best, but he also had to work around jams he didn’t create, which used up his pitches quickly. A couple two-run homers (one of the wow-juiced-ball-much variety) were the damage against him over his 5.0 innings of work. Not a terrible outing, but not great.
With a September bullpen in place, there are plenty of arms available to cover four innings, which makes it interesting that Brad Wieck got the first 1.2 innings after Quintana departed. He was the guy who closed out the four-run “save” against the Mariners, was talked up big by Theo Epstein before he was called up, and is pretty clearly gaining Joe Maddon’s trust, at least in the tier just behind Steve Cishek and Brandon Kintzler.
Offensively, it was a hit parade for the Cubs, who had 16 in the game (as well as 5 walks in a HBP), and got contributions up and down the lineup. But these two guys, man … so good to see: