AP Photo/John Bazemore

The Rundown: Cubs Suffer Devastating Loss in Atlanta, Wild Card Race Tightens, Giants Pitcher Calls Out Teammates After Elimination Loss

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterSeptember 27, 2023

“Don’t accept that what’s happening is just another case of suffering.” – Pink Floyd, On the Turning Away

There was a point last night when I thought to myself that things were too good to be true. The Cubs were up 6-0 on the Braves and the Diamondbacks were trailing the White Sox 3-0. Then, as I was visualizing the standings and calculating magic numbers in my head, the floorboards disintegrated. The North Siders lost in stunning fashion and the South Siders White-Soxed their way to another loss.

You could hear the helium escaping the balloon that has been the 2023 season, and it almost feels like the Cubs will have to run the table to get into the playoffs. It’s also obvious the baseball gods aren’t going to provide any divine intervention. Some are putting last night’s 7-6 loss on the shoulders of Seiya Suzuki, but that’s unfair. He’s been Chicago’s best hitter for over a month and you could blame the bullpen just as much.

The Cubs need a win today, some help from the White Sox and Mets, and a miracle or two in their final five games.

Cubs News & Notes

Odds & Sods

Suzuki’s error made Brant Brown a trending topic on Twitter, but I’m here for Rod Beck.

Central Intelligence

Cubs Math

  1. Chicago’s loss gave the Brewers the NL Central crown and the No. 3 seed in this year’s playoffs.
  2. The Phillies beat the Pirates to clinch a Wild Cards spot and their magic number is down to one to secure a home series against the No. 5 seed.
  3. The Diamondbacks lead the Cubs by one game for WC2.
  4. The Marlins were rained out in New York but gained a half-game on the Cubs for the final Wild Card berth.
  5. If the season ended today, the Braves and Dodgers would have first-round byes, the Cubs would play a best-of-three series at Milwaukee, and the Phillies would host the Diamondbacks in a best-of-three series.

Climbing the Ladder

“The wolf’s at the door with his teeth and his claws.” – The Rolling Stones, Angry

Suzuki had another stellar day at the plate, finishing 2-for-5 with a triple and two RBI. Cody Bellinger was 3-for-4 with an RBI and has plated 96 runners this season. Nico Hoerner stole his 43rd base of the season last night, too.

  • Games Played: 157
  • Record: 82-75 (.522)
  • Total Plate Appearances: 6,026
  • Total Strikeouts: 1,340
  • Strikeout Rate: 22.24%
  • Team Batting Average: .256
  • Runs Scored: 798
  • Runs Allowed: 698
  • Chances of Making the Playoffs: 54.3%, 2.6% to win the World Series

How About That!

MLB has failed to properly hype the upcoming postseason, particularly at ESPN, which is hosting the entire Wild Card round.

Orioles legend and Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson, who spent his entire career in Baltimore, passed away at the age of 86 yesterday.

Ken Rosenthal believes the Mets and Dodgers are the favorites to sign Shohei Ohtani this winter. Bellinger, Blake Snell, Josh Hader, and Matt Chapman will be the next best available players.

Hader said he doesn’t like being asked to get more than three outs, which will likely impact his negotiations this winter.

The Padres eliminated the Giants from postseason contention, but they’re also one game away from extinction.

Logan Webb called out some of his San Francisco teammates who seemed to be more interested in a clubhouse card game than focusing on the playoff race.

Tuesday’s Three Stars

  1. Christian Walker – The slugging first baseman led the Diamondbacks to a big win with three hits in five at-bats with six RBI. Walker homered twice and hit a triple.
  2. Elly De La Cruz – The rookie shortstop belted two home runs with four RBI in Cincinnati’s win over Cleveland.
  3. Kyle Bradish – The Orioles starter tossed eight innings of three-hit, shutout baseball in a 1-0 win over the Nationals.

Extra Innings

Congratulations to Cade Horton and the Smokies!

Tuesday Morning Six-Pack

  1. Joe Biden became the first sitting US president to join workers on a picket line when he stood with striking members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union in Michigan yesterday, telling the picketers that they “deserve a significant raise.” The POTUS backs EVs for the environment, but the UAW worries that EV plants require less labor, the outsourcing of jobs to other countries, and also, potentially less pay.
  2. Donald Trump, who is skipping tonight’s GOP debate to speak to auto workers instead, blasted Biden’s EV policies on Truth Social, claiming they’ll “annihilate the US auto industry.”
  3. The FCC is planning to reinstate net neutrality rules requiring internet providers to treat all websites the same and not throttle sites that won’t pay for faster speeds.
  4. Google turns 25 today, so, as is customary in these parts, celebrate accordingly. The massive search engine also keeps an archive of every celebratory Doodle in case you need something to pass the time until tonight’s Cubs-Braves game.
  5. Target said it will close nine stores in New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, and Portland because of organized retail crime. That’s ironic because retail feels a lot like organized crime at times. Thanks, inflation!
  6. How about a list of the worst albums by the most brilliant musicians, including “The Final Cut” by Pink Floyd?

Bonus: The Rolling Stones have partnered with MLB to distribute special, limited edition versions of their new album, “Hackney Diamonds.”

They Said It

  • “It happens to every single one of us. We’ve all made errors. All we can do is turn the page and come back tomorrow. We got five more games. Seiya’s been one of the best hitters in the league this whole month. He’s been carrying the team. We all support him and have his back.” – Smyly
  • “We’re not going to highlight one mistake. There are other areas. We could have scored more runs. We had guys at third with less than two outs, and we could have made some pitches earlier in the game. But we didn’t. We’ve got to pick our heads up.” – David Ross
  • “This team’s been really resilient with all the things that have been thrown at them all year. It will be another test, for sure, but this team had their back against the wall all year and answered the bell.” – Ross

Tuesday Walk-Up Song

This terrific song by the Pretenders was released this week in 1982.

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterSeptember 27, 2023
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