Bottom line--lack of sleep is overrated.
Give the Colorado Rockies a ton of credit, overcoming the fact that they had to play Sunday afternoon in Denver, then fly over 1,000 miles for the winner take all Western Division title game early on Monday afternoon in Los Angeles.
After losing to the Dodgers 5-2, then it was another plane to fly over 2,000 miles and two time zones to take on the Chicago Cubs and all of their crazed fans inside cramped Wrigley Field.
Yes, starting pitcher Kyle Freeland was a stud going seven innings and throwing shutout ball on three days rest.
The only runs the Rockies would need were in the very first inning and the last inning, which was the 13th. Although 2016 NLCS MVP Javier Baez brought the Cubs to a tie in the bottom of the 8th as Terrance Gore had his Dave Roberts/Rickey Henderson type of moment moments after pinch running for Anthony Rizzo and stealing second.
By the time Jon Lester was replace after six mostly brilliant innings on regular rest, the bullpen at least held up with Pedro Strop triumphantly returning from his hamstring injury to pitch a scoreless ninth.
After that, it was all hands on deck:
Mid-season acquisition Cole Hamels pitched the 10th and 11th, but the Cubs offense again did very little against their former teammate during 2017 in Wade Davis.
Enter fellow starter Kyle Hendricks, another reliable pitcher during this topsy-turvy season. After retiring the first two hitters, Trevor Story led things off with a single, then another single put Story on second, and then little used Tony Wolters (a backup catcher) hit a solid single right off the pitchers mound and into center field for the Wild Card clinching run for a 2-1 final.
If you want some brief history, teams are 10-3 when they score first when this Wild Card round was added in 2012.
The 13 innings played on Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning along with the 4 hours, 55 minutes of actual playing time was the longest recorded in the long, storied history of the Friendly Confines.
The story of the 2018 Chicago Cubs will be remembered for their inconsistency on offense. The starting pitching mostly held up, but with several injuries to key players including Jason Heyward, Kris Bryant twice, Yu Darvish was shut down for good starting in June, the aforementioned Pedro Strop, and offseason pickup in Los Angeles fireballer Brandon Morrow was mostly not himself during the stretch run.
The bullpen suffered the most, and things did not work out after leading by a comfortable 5 games over the Milwaukee Brewers on September 1.
The turning point, you ask--Labor Day at Miller Park. A two game swing saw the Brewers stun the Cubs, and they basically have not looked back since winning eight games in a row on Monday afternoon to steal away the Central Division crown after the Cubs recent dominance beginning with winning the 2015 Wild Card game on the road in Pittsburgh.
One final nugget:
According to an NBC Sports Chicago fan poll, 48% of fans who checked in online felt the blame on the final two losses at home and the overall collapse during September fell squarely on the players--and I wholeheartedly agree.
28% felt the blame was pinned on Manager Joe Maddon. Again, he was mostly dealt with a stacked deck with very little margin for error. No matter who he plugged into the lineup, he was mostly going on gut feelings because of that day/night's starting pitcher. When things worked out, the Cubs scored runs in bunches. When things didn't pan out, it backfired badly.
Finally, 24% of respondents gave the blame to the front office in brilliant President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein and General Manager Jed Hoyer. Both guys do talk a good game and are very honest with the media. Sure, fans can criticize all they want.
With an early start to the Hot Stove League for Cubs Nation, it will be interesting to see which members of the bullpen will be brought back. Also, something to keep in mind--one of the key hitters could be on the trading block come December at the Winter meetings. Many online and Twitter rumors have either Albert Almora, Jr. or Kyle Schwarber being shipped away. And with Addison Russell's Cubs career apparently ending pending those allegations brought on by his ex-wife, the addition of Daniel Murphy will prove to pay dividends in the longer term.
That's all I have to say about it-- To Number One and others, enjoy recapping the rest of the 2018 postseason. If I learned one thing about watching baseball in 2018, it is to expect the unexpected.
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