​Okay, by the time you’re reading this, the game feels ancient history. Al’s recap went live more than 12 hours ago. You’ve likely vented your frustration already, so let’s take a few deep breaths and avoid plunging into hot takes. That’s why we start with a perspective check. Here goes. Four teams have more wins than the Cubs. Two teams have as many wins as the Cubs. A sobering note: five of the six teams I’ve just described are in the National League. Six of the top seven teams by record to date reside in the NL. Through 93 games, that’s your NL playoff field. A pace of about 90.5 wins for the Cubs.
The wind changed moods all night. Some balls were hit hard, but found gloves; Orioles’ balls found grass, even on what looked like soft contact. Their pitcher stood among the best in baseball, while another pitcher was a complete unknown we hadn’t seen before. The excuses are plentiful, and honestly, they feel repetitive even as I name them. But we start with perspective for a reason. We know this likely isn’t a championship roster. Yet it’s probably a playoff roster, warts and all.
Their record isn’t a product of what they aren’t doing. It isn’t a product of everything they are not. It’s entirely foreseeable that this team could be doomed at the end of the season, its fate sealed by the very things it doesn’t do. Still, they could win some games beyond the regular season. Are you quitting because you expect a cruel dose of reality at the end of the ride? What kind of sports fan are you? Surely not a Chicago one. Over the decades, we’ve tried to hold our teams to higher standards. And yes, Chicago has endured more bad seasons in its sports history than perhaps any other city.
The headlines will say the Cubs bullpen failed while the Orioles bullpen came through. Each bullpen pitched three innings. The Cubs yielded two runs; the Orioles allowed just one. That difference is real, and it’s the headline’s basis. For once, Al’s headline feels like something from my space—an aerial view that underscored the bullpen’s unraveling. The granular, trenches-level truth is that each team had to relay a throw to the plate for a play at the bag and then slug a slide safely around a close tag. The Cubs failed at both; the Orioles succeeded at both. If either of those plays had gone the other way, the game would have been tied heading into the bottom of the ninth.
My only quibble with the game, really, is the throw home for the Cubs. To be fair, when that ball dropped, I thought it might be a two-run double. The replay was closer than we’re usually allowed to challenge, but it was still tight. I’m fairly sure the call was correct—both plays at the plate were rightly ruled in favor of the Orioles. So I’ll tip my cap to the Cub relay for at least making a play at the plate. And yes, we’ve moved on from the catcher-targeted “blow-up” era for better SEO and safer viewing, which feels like a small win in the grand scheme.