Hartwig And The Angry Bullpen

I wonder if if the Cubs, at some point after the season is over, will look back upon this series as the one they’ll regret just like the Mets look back at the four game sweep at the hands of the Cubs last sesaon as their “uh-oh” moment.

Not that I give a damn about revenge. What good is revenge when your own season is in shambles, right? And it’s the Cubs. I have no qualms with the Cubs. So screw revenge. At this point, what I’m hoping is for a high draft pick and for there not to be an embarrassing “has lobby” or “LOL Mets” moment. The closest closest we got to that was David Peterson giving up a home run on the first pitch of the game after Gary Cohen went on and on about how good Peterson has looked lately and how much of an opportunity this was for him. On cue, Christopher Morel smokes a fastball over the wall and another clown met his untimely demise.

But after Peterson left the game after 3 and 2/3’s, the bullpen took it from there. (Yes, same bullpen whose experience I compared to the Russian Roulette scene in The Deer Hunter.) Grant Hartwig pitched 2 and 1/3 scoreless ball, Trevor Gott Hit Hard and Josh “Walk Off Balk” Walker pitches scoreless innings. They were supported by another Pete Alonso home run, a Jeff McNeil home run, and an RBI by Jonathan Arauz because why not.

But that Arauz RBI was huge, because Gare wasn’t done murdering clowns. Adam Ottavino goes 2-0 on Seiya Suzuki and Gare talks about how Ottavino on back to back days has an ERA of 7.36 with a WHIP of 1.636. It was then I thought “uh-oh”. Sure enough Suzuki hits one to Jagerhaus Brewery to make it 4-3. Ottavino then gives up a single to Jeimer Candelario, commits a new age balk by throwing over three times (because Ottavino wasn’t holding him on first anyway so why not), and then walks Babe Ruth Tauchman.

Buck Showalter then had the good sense to get Ottavino out of there before he could be tonight’s Christopher Wlken, but not before Ottavino was incredulous about being taken out after not retiring a batter and balking a runner to second which may or may not be on purpose. He’s probably thinking “Raley’s unavailable, D-Rob is in Miami, and Sugar is rehabbing a catastrophic injury. Who the hell are you bringing in to save me?”

Well, the answer was Phil Bickford. And for sure I thought the Cubs were going to win 1,283,458-3. But Bickford went Ricky Vaughn after he dicthed his corporate shill girlfriend and got a sac bunt and sandwiched a walk with two strikeouts to end the game. The Mets didn’t help that draft position, but they didn’t embarrass themselves tonight. Not in front of Hank Azaria and David Wright and everyone else that was in the stands tonight. Fair trade. As for you Adam, don’t worry. Buck isn’t mad at you. He’s mad at the dirt.

And good on Buck for realizing that even though Ottavino was the biggest name left, that when you don’t have it, it’s time to bail. Just like the trade deadline.

Today’s Hate List

Hated that Dom Smith was the final out of a no-hitter tonight.