April 5-8, vs. Washington – Series Recap
Washington wins the series 2 – 1.
Game 1: Thursday April 5, 2012
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
|
WSH
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | |
| CHC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
W: Clippard (1-0, 0.00); L: Marmol (0-1, 0.00); SV: Lidge (1)
HR: None
Game 2: Saturday April 7, 2012
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
|
WSH
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 0 | |
| CHC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 0 |
W: Mattheus (1-0, 0.00); L: Wood, K (0-1, 27.00); SV: Rodriguez, H (1)
HR: LaRoche, Ad (1), Espinosa (1)
Game 3: Sunday April 8, 2012
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
|
WSH
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | |
| CHC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | X | 4 | 8 | 1 |
W: Samardzija (1-0, 1.04); L: Zimmerman, J (0-1; 1.29); SV: Marmol (1)
HR: LaRoche (2)
Series Stats
Runs Scored: 12
Team ERA: 2.77
RISP: 6-for-17 (.353)
Team LOB: 19
Runs Scored: 9
Team ERA: 3.33
RISP: 5-for-27 (.185)
Team LOB: 22
Final Thoughts
On the surface it seems obvious, the Cubs blew leads late in two games, and squandered a real good chance to start the season 3-0. But when looking at the series breakdown above it tells a different story then just the typical response of “well, the bullpen blew it” First off, the Cubs pitching staff did a tremendous job of only allowing the Nats to have 17 at bats with runners in scoring position, over a three game series that is lights out. Conversely the Nats did an outstanding job of hitting .353 with said runners in scoring position. You can look at it one of two ways, either the Nats did a great job in the clutch, or the Cubs pitchers failed, in this instance I would think it would be okay to give the other team some credit here. The games were close, sure, but the Cubs hitters could have removed the bullpen from the equation completely if they just came through in the clutch a couple more times. The Cubs hit .185 with runners in scoring position in the series, and had 10 more at bats with guys in scoring position than the Nats. Missed opportunities was the story of this series for sure.
Hero / Goat
Hero: The Cubs starting pitching
Demspter - Garza – Samardzija combined for the following line:
22.1 IP, 11 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 23 K - (1.63 ERA)
Goat: The Cubs bullpen
Wood – Marmol - Dolis – Camp combined for the following line:
4.2 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 5 BB, 2 K – (11.49 ERA)
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Full preview coming up, thanks for reading, go Cubs!
- George Cotugno
