Contactless baseball has been categorized by many as the death knell for sports, so deep thinkers at MLB are constantly spitballing to find a solution to their troublesome problem.
But once in a while comes a cabaret duel that proves the game can be just as interesting without a ton of action. The intriguing matchup on Sunday between Chicago Cubs ’Marcus Stroman and Milwaukee ACE beer Corbin Burnes was one of those duels.
The intangibly forgotten Burnes retires in the first 13 batters he faces, while Stroman knew he had to keep the Brewers at bay to stand a chance of winning his first game in a Cubs uniform.
Patrick Wisdom in the fifth inning solo home run off Burnes gave Stroman all the support he needed on his 31st day.
Burnes ’brilliance was a challenge that Stroman had no choice but to fit.
“That guy is incredible, man,” Stroman said. “She is one of the very few pitchers to watch videos and really dive into his stuff, his sequencing, his tunneling. It’s incredible with his step mix. Every time you leave, that guy knows you’re going to have to bring in the “A” game. ”
Stroman did just that.
He has allowed two hits over seven innings, retiring in the last 14 batters he faces as the Cubs dodged a sweep and won only the third time in the last 12 games.
“I told him (reporter) he was going to have a good birthday, didn’t he?” Manager David Ross told Stroman. “I did not know that I was (conscious). He threw very well. I think it’s his version that he expects. ”
Burnes hit 10 in seven innings, allowing four hits and one walk.
The Cubs barely made contact with Burnes until Wisdom reached the plate with one in the fifth. They had 15 swings-and-limit and looked at 10 called hits, putting only six balls in play. The Cubs hitters hit 12 times on Sunday, a day after a 15-miss performance.
But Wisdom hit a running house arching on a 96 mph turntable to switch momentum. The Cubs added another term in the sixth on a two-out farm hit against the pass by Alfonso Rivas and an RBI double on a 0-2 curve by Seiya Suzuki.
Reliever David Robertson replaced Rowan Wick with a two-run tie and two in the eighth and hit Jace Peterson on a curved wrist to get out of the half. Robertson came back to score without a goal for his ninth fifth save on as many opportunities as possible.
Ross will not be named closer to Robertson yet, although the reliever is getting the most opportunities. Closer 1-A, maybe?
“That’s my job, to be that tough guy you took them to fight the ninth,” Robertson said. “The eighth Or. It does not matter to me.”
The labels are really irrelevant now, although the Cubs definitely needed a proverbial Sunday stopper after allowing a combined 20 to run the previous two nights.
Stroman was a stopper. He induced double-play grounders to get out of the first two innings, and was not threatened after the third.
“I want it to be standard,” he said. “It simply came to our notice then. I’m the toughest critic. ”
Stroman entered the game on Sunday with a record of 0-3 and 6.98 ERA despite two decent starts in four outings.
“What I’ve experienced from my former teammates and just my short time management is that guys who come into a new environment with big contracts, you put a little pressure on yourself early,” Ross said. “It simply came to our notice then. You want things to work out.
“I think Jon (Lester) did that in his first year here. You want these guys to just settle in. It will happen. … (Stroman is) a very confident young man and he believes in himself, and he wants to do good for the group. ”
the first month Lester in Chicago gave no indication of what was in store for the rest of his Cubs career. After signing a six-year, $ 155 million deal at the end of 2014, Lester went 2-2 with a 6.23 ERA in the top four starting in ’15.
“I’m a seasoned believer and I know he’ll be better and healthier,” said former Cubs manager Joe Maddon after the early Lester fights. “It’s just him getting more comfortable.”
Lester then threw a seven inning shutout against the Brewers on a May 2015, seven years since Stroman’s trip date.
Stroman doesn’t have the weight of the world on his shoulders like Lester did that season. Sure, the three-year, $ 71 million deal he signed on the eve of the blockade was a significant move by Cubs President Jed Hoyer, but no one was asked by Stroman to face a rebuild that is not labeled recompilations.