Game 2 Matchup: Boise Rumble Ponies @ South Bend Cubs
Starting Lineups below with career numbers for each player against the opposing starter.
Let’s take a look at the player profiles for today’s starters. Starting for us today is 26 year-old Schoolboy Rowe, a five-pitch right-hander, with a +++changeup, a ++fastball and screwball, and a curveball and knuckle curve, just for fun.
Starting for the Cubs is another 26-year old righty, Earl Moseley. He has 3 ++ pitches, a fastball, slider and curveball, and a decent forkball for good measure.
To start the game, the Rumble Ponies have a 46% Win Probability.
Danny Arias leads off the game and works a full count, but grounds out to the first baseman Hernandez, beating Arias to the bag himself. Buster Hoover follows with a strikeout on three straight up and in fastballs. Gehrig strikes out to end the inning, as Moseley successfully paints the corners against Gehrig.
Leading off the bottom of the first for the Cubs is the catcher, King Kelly, who rips a line drive back right back to Schoolboy Rowe. Rowe defied death, showing amazing reflexes, catching the comebacker coming straight for his head. It’s the scariest play in baseball, but we avoided tragedy today. Batting second is Pete Hotaling, who follows with a walk on four straight pitches. Rowe is still visibly rattled from the dodged bullet from Kelly. Right fielder Kiki Cuyler steps in and bloops a single into shallow center, moving Hotaling to second. The cleanup hitter, William Hernandez, follows with a line drive single up the middle, scoring Hotaling. With one out and runners on first and second, Infante flies out to shallow right, unable to move the runners up. With two outs now, Rowe gets Johnny Bates to strike out swinging, on a screwball, after Bates worked a full count. Rowe lets out a huge sigh as he leaves the field. Cubs lead 1-0.
Rumble Ponies Win Probability: 38.7%
In the top of the second, Mathews grounds out to first, seeing six straight fastballs. I’ll be telling Eddie to think about swinging on the first pitch next at bat. Goldschmidt follows, and, swinging at a first pitch slider, rips a line drive to third, but right at the third baseman Infante for out number two. Next up is Lindor, who shows great patience and walks, taking two close fastballs that just missed off the inside and out corners. Seager steps in and hits a 2-run homer to right on the first pitch he saw, giving us a 2-1 lead. That’s Seager’s second home run in as many games. Jackie Hayes kept the inning going with a single into left center, but the inning ended when Schoolboy Rowe flew out to center.
In the bottom half of the second, Ed McKean flew out to left center. The pitcher Moseley struck out swinging, and Renteria flew out to the warning track in right. A 1-2-3 inning after taking the lead is huge for us – glad to see Rowe settling in.
Rumble Ponies Win Probability: 59.6%
The top of the order leads off for us in the top of the third, and Arias grounds the first pitch, a down and in fastball at 96mph, to third for out number one. Hoover follows and hits a line drive single to right on a very slow, 67mph curveball. Gehrig steps in for his second at bat, but dribbles a ball back to the pitcher Moseley, moving Hoover to second. With two outs and Eddie Mathews coming to bat, I called a hit and run. Mathews swung and missed though, but Hoover, with his great speed, stole third successfully – on a 95mph fastball no less. But Mathews couldn’t drive him in, flying out to Kiki Cuyler in right.
The top of the order also leads off for the Cubs in the bottom half of the inning. Kelly, who hit the ball hard in his first at bat, lines a changeup to left for a single. Rowe then registers his 3rd strikeout of the game against Hotaling for the first out. Kiki Cuyler walks on a full count. With two on and one out, first baseman William Hernandez sends a 418ft 3-run blast over the right center field wall. He mashed a 95mph fastball above the zone, showing off his bat speed, and putting the Cubs up 4-2.
Infante keeps the party going with a single to right, and then steals second. At this point I go out for a mound visit. I think the death-defying liner in the first innings has taken a mental toll on Rowe, but tells me he has more in the tank, and I leave him in. Bates promptly follows with a single, scoring Infante. Rowe gets McKean to fly to center for the second out, but walks the pitcher Moseley to continue the inning. I can’t help but begin to question my decision to leave Rowe in. I grab a fistful of sunflower seeds (original flavor of course) so I don’t grind my teeth… With two runners on, Rowe gets Renteria to strike out, finally ending the inning, but the Cubs score 4 and lead 5-2. Amos Rusie starts warming in the pen.
Rumble Ponies Win Probability: 15.9%
The top of the fourth is started by Paul Goldschmidt, who works a leadoff walk. Lindor steps in and smokes a fastball down the first base line for a single, moving Goldschmidt from first to third. Moseley pitched around Seager, who homered in the second, loading the bases. Jackie J Hayes, our catcher, couldn’t get a run across, popping up to short. With Rowe coming to the plate, having already given up 5 runs, I decide to pull him early, and Giancarlo Stanton pinch hits. He comes through with a 2-run single to right, scoring Goldschmidt and Lindor. Riding the momentum, Danny Arias hits a 453ft bomb to right, and it’s now 7-5 in favor of the Rumble Ponies. Hoover continues the inning with a single up the middle. We still have only one out, but Gehrig ends the inning grounding into a 6-4-3 double play. We put up a crooked number in the fourth. I decide to replace Gehrig with my reliever Amos Rusie, and keep Stanton in the game playing right field.
Rusie starts the Cubs off in the fourth by walking the catcher, King Kelly. Center fielder Pete Hotaling followed with a fly out to right. Kiki Cuyler stepped in and grounded into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play. Just what the doctor ordered. Rumble Ponies maintain a 7-5 lead.
Rumble Ponies Win Probability: 75.5%
The Cubs make a pitching change entering the fifth inning, bringing in Kent Greenfield to replace Earl Moseley. Greenfield throws 98-100mph and has decent control/movement. Eddie Mathews leads off, and bloops a single over the second baseman Ed McKean’s head. Goldschmidt steps in and rips a liner to first, but it’s snagged by the first baseman Hernandez, who beats Mathews back to the bag for a double-play. With two outs, Lindor grounds out to McKean at second to end the inning.
After making the great double play in the top half of the inning, Hernandez grounds out to Lindor to start the bottom of the fifth. Guillermo Infante hits a 1-0 fastball to Seager at short for the second out. With two outs, Bates steps in and ropes a double down the line in right to extend the inning. Rusie bounces the first pitch to McKean, a wild pitch that moves Bates to third. On the next pitch though, McKeon rolls over to third, ending the inning.
Rumble Ponies Win Probability: 78.4%
Seager leads off the top of the sixth for us and hit a first pitch curveball up the middle for a single. Jackie J Hayes promptly clears the bases, bouncing into a 6-4-3 double play. In his second at bat of the game, Stanton strikes out on a 101mph fastball, right down the middle.
Pinch-hitter Herman Long starts the inning for the Cubs, drawing a walk against Rusie, who is in his third inning of work. Edgar Renteria continued his struggles, and strikes out for the second time today. Up next is the catcher King Kelly, who works his second consecutive walk, moving Long to second. Pete Hotaling fouls out to right field, but Long was able to tag and make it to third. I think he caught Stanton off-guard, because Stanton has a pretty good arm, and didn’t even get a throw off. Until he shows more awareness when he’s on the field, he’ll continue to have a role off the bench, instead of in the starting lineup. With two outs, Kiki Cuyler lofts a fly ball to Danny Arias in center, ending the threat and moving us into the 7th inning. I get Greg Harris warming in my bullpen with Rusie slated to bat third next inning.
Rumble Ponies Win Probability: 82%
The Cubs make another pitching change, and bring in Luis Aquino. He has great movement on his pitches, and can hit his spots, making him a tough opponent. Danny Arias rolls a grounder to short to start the inning with our first out. Buster Hoover swings at the first pitch, and flies out to center fielder Kiki Cuyler. I pinch hit for Amos Rusie, and bring in Art Whitney, who has a great eye and good contact ability. But, he hits a tapper back to the mound, and Aquino flips it to first for the final out of the inning.
After the seventh inning stretch, Greg Harris starts the bottom of the seventh by striking out the Cubs’ cleanup hitter, William Hernandez. Infante follows with a single down the first base line. With one out, Bates flies out to center. And, with two down and a runner on first, Ed McKeon flies out to Hoover in left to end the inning. I get John Wetteland warming in the pen.
Rumble Ponies Win Probability: 86.8%
The Cubs make another pitching change in the eighth, bringing in lefty Ted Gray for his second appearance of the season. He gets Mathews to strikeout swinging on three pitches. It looks like Gray was brought in just to face Mathews, as the Cubs make another call to the bullpen and bring in rightly Bob Wicker to face Goldschmidt. On a full count, Paul smacks a double to the wall in center field. Switch-hitting Lindor stepped in next, and hits a single up the middle, but he hit it too hard, as Goldschmidt wasn’t able to score from second. Corey Seager got it done for us though, hitting a single between first and second, scoring Goldschmidt and moving Lindor from first to third. That’s a big insurance run. Jackie J Hayes makes up for his GIDP earlier in the game and hits a single to left, scoring Lindor, bringing the score to 9-5. The Cubs make yet another pitching change, bringing right hander Pink Hawley in to face Giancarlo Stanton. He promptly strikes him out swinging. With two outs and a full count, Danny Arias continues the fun, hitting an infield single to load the bases. Hoover then walked on 4 straight pitches, none of them close to the zone, scoring Seager. With the pitcher coming to the plate and Wetteland ready in the bullpen, I pinch hit for Harris, bringing in Arthur Irwin, but he grounds out to the first baseman Hernandez to end the inning. Score is now 10-5 Rumble Ponies.
With the long top of the inning, I think Wetteland spent too much time waiting to come in, because he started off shaky. Pinch hitter Fred Beck led off the inning with a solo homer, and then gives up a single to the struggling Edgar Renteria. Wetteland slowed things down, and got King Kelly to ground into a fielders choice Seager at short, getting the lead runner. Wetteland got Hotaling to strike out swinging for the second out, but walked Cuyler to keep the inning alive. Wetteland showed us why he is a team leader and buckled down, getting Hernandez to ground out to second.
Rumble Ponies Win Probability: 96.2%
In the top of the ninth, Eddie Mathews pops out to Renteria at short. Goldschmidt grounds to second, but reaches on Ed McKean’s error. Lindor pops out to short for the second out, and Seager, who is 3-3 at this point, strikes out swinging on three pitches to end the inning.
We start the bottom of the ninth with Guillermo Infante grounding out to Seager at short. Pinch hitter Everth Cabrera grounds an 0-2 fastbal to Lindor at second. With two down, Ed McKean ends the game with a routine grounder to Seager at short.
Rumble Ponies win, 10-6.
Categories: OOTP Simulation
THE MORNING BISCUIT 
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