April 26th Game’s Results and Analysis

April 26^th Game’s Results and Analysis

Chicago Cubs 4 – Miami Marlins 2

Winning Pitcher: Feldman (1-3) Losing Pitcher: LeBlanc (0-4)

Save by Gregg (2)

Player of the Game: Anthony Rizzo

The Chicago Cubs took two games in as many days by defeating the Marlins in a low scoring affair. The Cubbies won this game by getting solid pitching from starter Scott Feldman and by the at-bat of first baseman Anthony Rizzo. Feldman went 6.2 innings, gave up just two earned runs on 7 hits and 2 walks, which gave him his first win as a Cub and his first quality start of the season. Although, Feldman put together his best outing of the year in the game, he was out played by Anthony Rizzo. Rizzo went 3 for 4 with two run homers in the game and was responsible for all the runs the Cubbies scored in the game, therefore he earned player of the game.

Impressive: Anthony Rizzo’s performance was the most impressive thing in the game because he did most of his damage against a left-handed pitcher. Rizzo tends to have a difficult time against lefties, however in this game he hit two monster homers off Wade LeBlanc and showed that he can take both right and left-handed pitchers yard. Not only was Rizzo’s game impressive because of his two homeruns, but he also got another hit in the game and then stole a base. Rizzo has shown early on this season that he can pretty much do it all and is a player that the Cubbies could build around.

Surprising: Scott Feldman’s outing caught me off guard and therefore was the thing that surprised me the most in the game. I knew coming in to the game that this is probably Feldman’s best chance to get a victory because the Marlins don’t have that deep of a lineup, however Feldman pitched better than I thought he would in the game. Feldman only gave up two walks in the game and so far this season that has been his biggest problem on the year, but today it looked like he had better control of his pitches which propelled him to his victory over the Marlins. Feldman did gave up two earned runs, one of the runs coming off a solo homer from Joe Mahoney, but Feldman still pitched an effective game and showed he can be a reliable starter for the Cubbies.

Concerning: There isn’t a lot to be concerned about for the Cubs after this game, but if I had to be a stickler about something, I would be concerned about how poorly they hit with runners in scoring position. The Cubbies went 1 for 7 when they had base runners in scoring positions and that hit was one of Rizzo’s homeruns in the game.