April 21st Game’s Results and Analysis

April 21^st Game’s Results and Analysis

Milwaukee Brewers 4 - Chicago Cubs 2

Winning Pitcher: Peralta (1-1) Losing Pitcher: Feldman (0-3)

Save by Henderson (4)

Player of the Game: Wily Peralta

The Chicago Cubs couldn’t avoid getting swept by the Milwaukee Brewers with a loss of 4 to 2. The Cubbies did have a lead in the game until a three run homer by Ryan Braun who would have been the player of the game, but he struck out 3 times in a game and got ejected in the same game so I decided he wasn’t the player of the game. The Cubs did get a solid start from Scott Feldman, but errors made by him and Welington Castillo were costly errors and probably cost Feldman’s chance for a win. Feldman was out-dueled by Wily Peralta, Peralta putting together a quality start by going 6.2 innings and allowed just 2 earned runs. 

Impressive: The most impressive thing about today’s game was Anthony Rizzo’s 6^th homerun of the year. Rizzo hit a two run homer off of Wily Peralta in the third inning with two outs. The most impressive thing about Rizzo’s homerun was that it came off a left-handed pitcher, which is his second homer off a lefty pitcher. Anthony Rizzo has shown that he can hit for power and offers the Cubbies a power left-handed batter. Rizzo could one day be an all-star and has MVP caliber talent, the Cubs just need to give him the time to groom himself into the player he can be. Another impressive thing in today’s game is that Starlin Castro has put in a 13 game hitting streak and has not recorded a hit in only two games this season.

Surprising: What surprised me about today’s game was how well Scott Feldman pitched in his start. Feldman went 5 innings allowing 4 runs (one earned) with 6 strikeouts and gave up only three hits to the Brewers. However, Feldman struggled again with his command and walked too many batters to pull out a good performance. I believe that Feldman offers the Cubs a decent 5^th starter, but is more suited to the bullpen once the Cubbies get Matt Garza or Scott Baker back.

Concerning: I truly only have one concern about today’s and that is the Cubs can’t hit left-handed pitchers. The Cubbies are winless when there is a left-handed starting opposing pitcher. The Cubs only recorded five hits and a team can’t get five hits and expect to win on a given night. I don’t know what the solution to the Cubs problems against LHPs is, I thought the signing of Scott Hairston was a solid solution, but he hasn’t panned out as well as planned. If the Cubs could add a power right-handed batter to their lineup it might help them win games that they tend to lose.