Using small ball techniques, Will Venable's team played for one run and scored three times in the 6th inning against Houston today. The White Sox had two hitters reach by taking bases on balls. Next the runners executed a double steal while the batter was attempting to bunt. After squaring up, the batter pulled his bat back as the runners stole second and third base. The rattled Astros' pitcher served up a home run afterwards to the batter who had been instructed to bunt earlier in the same at bat. Good use small ball techniques because these tactics work and often yield more than one run.

Bleed Cubbie Blue

Because it works

Using small ball techniques, Will Venable's team played for one run and scored
three times in the 6th inning against Houston today.

The White Sox had two hitters reach by taking bases on balls. Next the runners
executed a double steal while the batter was attempting to bunt. After squaring
up, the batter pulled his bat back as the runners stole second and third base.

The rattled Astros' pitcher served up a home run afterwards to the batter who
had been instructed to bunt earlier in the same at bat.

Good use small ball techniques because these tactics work and often yield more
than one run.

"The Cubs run up the score in some games, then barely score at all in too many others."No doubt you have heard that at some point this season.Is it true?...To find out, I first determined how many games the Cubs and the 29 other teams have played in which they scored a specific number of runs.0 RUNSCubs: 14 gamesRank: seventh mostMost: Reds, 17; Guardians, 16; four teams with 1529-team average: 101 RUNCubs: 12 gamesRank: Second fewestFewest: Brewers, 7; Padres, Pirates and White Sox, 1329-team average: 182 RUNSCubs: 16 gamesRank: second fewestFewest: Guardians, 16; Phillies and Rays, 1729-team average: 233 RUNSCubs: 19 gamesRank: tied for sixth fewest with Dodgers and TwinsFewest: Diamondbacks, 11; Athletics, 13; Pirates, 15; Tigers, 16; Phillies, 1729-team average: 224 RUNSCubs: 16 gamesRank: tied for sixth fewest with Astros and CardinalsFewest: Angels, 13; Giants, Nationals, Orioles and White Sox, 1429-team average: 205 RUNSCubs: 16 gamesRank: 12th fewestFewest: Mets, 8; Rockies, 10; Angels, 11; Pirates, 12; Marlins, 1329-team average: 176 RUNSCubs: 15 gamesRank: tied for 15th most with six other teamsMost: White Sox, 23; Red Sox, 22; Braves, Phillies and Nationals, 2029-team average: 167 RUNSCubs: 16 gamesRank: tied for second most with Phillies and PiratesMost: Padres, 2229-team average: 118 OR MORE RUNSCubs: 38 gamesRank: firstNext most: Brewers and Nationals, 36; Dodgers, 34; Diamondbacks and Rockies, 3229-team average: 26..........CUBS VS. OTHER TEAMSCompared to the combined average of the 29 other team teams, the Cubs played:4 fewer games with no runs6 fewer games with 1 run7 fewer games with 2 runs3 fewer games with 3 runs4 fewer games with 4 runs1 fewer games with 5 runs1 fewer games with 6 runs5 more games with 7 runs12 more games with at least 8 runs.........CONSISTENCYAfter their 14 games with no runs and 12 with one, the Cubs had a remarkably uniform distribution of games with the six subsequent numbers of specific runs:2 runs: 163 runs: 194 runs: 165 runs: 166 runs: 157 runs: 16...Here is how many they had for each higher number:8 runs: 119 runs: 610 runs: 1011 runs: 312 runs: 316 runs: 117 runs: 219 runs: 123 runs: 1..........SPANS OF RUNS0-3 RUNSThis may surprise some people:The Cubs' 61 games with no more than three runs tied them with the Brewers for the fewest of any team.The Dodgers had 63; the Braves, 64; and the Diamondbacks, 65.The Angels had the most, 91, followed by the Giants, 87; Mets, 82; Royals, 80; and Mariners and Reds, 79.The combined average of the 29 other teams was 73 games -- 12 more, 19.7 percent, than the Cubs' 61....4-7 RUNSThe Cubs' 63 games tied them for 16th most with two division rivals, the Pirates and Reds.The Athletics and Braves tied for the most games, 72, followed by the Phillies, 70, and the Cardinals, Padres, Rays and Twins, all 68.The bottom five were the Astros and Giants, 57; Rockies, 55; Mets, 53; and Angels, 49.The combined average of the 29 other teams was 63 -- exactly the Cubs' total....8 OR MORE RUNSAs noted above, the Cubs' 38 games were the most with at least eight runs.The Brewers and Nationals tied for second, with 36, followed by the Dodgers, 34, and Diamondbacks and Rockies, 32.The bottom five were the Athletics and Reds, both with 20; and the Blue Jays, Giants and Rangers, all with 18.The combined average of the 29 other teams was 26 -- 12 fewer, nearly one third, than the Cubs' 38...........RUNS SCORED IN SPANSThe Cubs scored 850 runs, most by any team.The Brewers were second, with 832. Then came the Nationals, 821; Dodgers, 801; and White Sox, 776.Nineteen teams scored at least 700 runs, with the Athletics and Mets both finishing with 699.The bottom five were the Giants, 669; Reds, 666; Mariners, 664; Angels, 655; and Blue Jays, 648.The Jays' total is 202 runs, 23.8 percent, nearly one quarter, less than the Cubs' 850.The combined average of the 29 other team was 721 -- 129 fewer, 15.2 percent, than the Cubs' 850....0-3 RUNSThe Cubs' 101 runs in games with no more than three runs were the fewest of any team.The Diamondbacks scored 103; the Athletics, 106; the Pirates, 108; and the Phillies, 109.The Angels scored the most, 161, followed by the Giants, 159; Royals, 152; and Astros and Rangers, both 145.The 29-team average was 130 -- 29 more, 28.7 percent, than the Cubs' 101....4-7 RUNSThe Cubs' 346 runs were the 10th most, between 350 by the Red Sox and 340 by the Blue Jays and Pirates.The Athletics scored the most, 388, followed by the Phillies, 383; Padres, 376; Braves, 372; and Cardinals, 370.The bottom five were the Royals, 307; Tigers, 302; Rockies, 290; Mets, 279; and Angels, 268.The 29-team average was 334 -- 12 fewer, 3.5 percent, than the Cubs' 346....8 OR MORE RUNSThe Cubs' 403 runs were the most, by 30 over the runner-up Brewers' 373. The Nationals scored 368; the Dodgers, 351; and the Rockies, 323.Four more teams scored at least 300 runs in games with at least eight: the Pirates, 319; White Sox, 313; Diamondbacks, 304; and Yankees, 301.The bottom five were the Athletics, 205; Reds, 201; Giants, 199; Blue Jays, 168; and Rangers, 162.The 29-team average was 258 -- a whopping 145 fewer, 36.0 percent, than the Cubs' 403...........PERCENTAGE OF RUNS BY SPANSThe Cubs scored 11.9 percent of their runs in games with three or fewer, 40.7 percent with 4-7 and 47.4 percent with eight or more.How does that compare to the other teams?...0-3 RUNSThe Cubs' 11.9 was the lowest percentage by two points over the Diamondbacks' 13.9. The Pirates were next, at 14.1, then the Brewers, 14.9, and Braves, 15.0.Twenty-four teams were below 20 percent.The six with a higher percentage were the Mariners, 20.2; Rangers, 21.5; Blue Jays, 21.6; Royals, 22.0; Giants, 23.8; and Angels, 24.4.The combined percentage of the 29 other teams was 18.0, more than six percentage points higher than the Cubs' 11.9....4-7 RUNSThe Cubs' 40.7 percent was the fifth lowest.The Rockies were 38.6; the Mets, 39.9; the Nationals, 40.0; and the Brewers, 40.3.The Dodgers were just behind the Cubs, at 40.8, and the Angeles were 40.9.Twenty teams tallied fewer than half their runs in games with 4-7 runs, with the Rays highest in the group, at 49.3.The Braves and Orioles both were 50.1.The five highest, in ascending order, were the Padres, 52.1; Blue Jays, 52.5; Phillies, 53.7; Rangers, 54.4; and Athletics, 35.5.The combined percentage of the 29 other teams was 46.2 -- 5.5 points more than the Cubs' 40.7....8 OR MORE RUNSThe Cubs' scored the highest percentage of runs in games with at least eight, with 47.4 to 44.8 by the Brewers and Nationals.The Dodgers were fourth, with 43.8, and the Rockies were 43.0.Six more teams scored at least 40 percent of their runs in such games, for a total of 11. Thirteen scored at least 30 percent.The six below 30 were the Cardinals and Giants, 29.7; Padres, 29.6; Athletics, 29.3; Blue Jays, 25.9; and Rangers, 24.1.The Rangers' percentage is barely half the Cubs' leading 47.4.The combined percentage of the 29 other teams was 35.7, nearly 12 points less than the Cubs' leading percentage.

Cubs' runs scored in games

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Who will win the Cubs vs. Padres Wild Card Series?

One of the assertions heard frequently from frustrated Cubs fans is, "They only score when they hit home runs!"Clearly, that is an exaggeration.But what percentage of the runs scored by the Cubs in the just-completed season did come on homers -- and how does that compare to the percentage by other teams?..........HOW MANY AND WHENThe Cubs hit 220 home runs, third most behind the Astros' 226 and Yankees' 223.The combined average of the 29 other teams was 185 -- 35 fewer, 15.9 percent, than the Cubs' 220...The Cubs hit:115 with nobody on base67 with one on31 with two on7 with three on...Those homers produced a total of 370 runs, the most by any team, 16 ahead of the Yankees and 25 ahead of the White Sox.The combined average of the other team was 291 -- 79 fewer, 21.4 percent, than the Cubs' 370...........PERCENTAGE OF RUNS ON HOMERSThe 29 other teams combined to score 34.2 percent of their runs on homers, a little more than one of every three.The Cubs' percentage was 43.5 -- 9.3 percentage points higher and more than three of every seven....But the Cubs' 43.5 was far from the highest. It ranked eighth overall and third among National League teams.Here are the top 11 (two tied for 10th):48.9: Reds (326 of 666)47.9: Yankees (354 of 739)46.2: Mariners (307 of 664)45.8: Astros (336 of 734)44.8: Orioles (322 of 718)44.5: White Sox (345 of 776)44.3: Mets (310 of 699)43.5: Cubs (370 of 850)42.8: Athletics (299 of 699)42.2: Braves (313 of 742)42.2: Giants (282 of 669)...Note that five of the 11 advanced to the post season: the No. 2 Yankees, No. 4 Astros, No. 6 White Sox, No. 8 Cubs and co-No. 10 Braves.So, obviously, a key for teams next season is to finish with an even-numbered ranking among the top 10 in percentage of runs scored on homers!...Four more teams scored a least 40 percent of their runs on homers: the Nationals, 41.5; Dodgers, 40.8; Phillies, 40.3; and Rangers, 40.1.The Tigers just missed, at 39.8.All but three teams scored at least 36 percent of their runs on long balls. The exceptions:35.4: Marlins (253 of 715)34.4: Rays (253 of 736)32.1: Brewers (267 of 832)……….PLAYOFF TEAMSThe combined percentage of all 12 post-season qualifiers was 40.5 percent. For non-qualifiers, it was one point higher, 41.5....The percentage was higher for the six American League qualifiers, 41.5, than for the six NL clubs, 39.6:AL47.9: Yankees (2nd overall)45.8: Astros (4th)44.5: White Sox (6th)38.6: Guardians (20th)36.9: Red Sox (tied for 25th)34.4: Rays (29th)NL43.5: Cubs (8th)42.2: Braves (tied for 10th)40.8: Dodgers (13th)40.3: Phillies (14th)38.9: Padres (20th)32.1: Brewers (30th)..........SOLO HOMERSThe Cubs' 115 homers with the bases empty tied them with the Athletics for 10th most.The Astros led by far, with 149 to the Reds' runner-up 132. The Mets hit 130; the Yankees, 127; the Braves, 124; and the Twins, 120.The Dodgers, Nationals and Rangers tied for seventh with 116, one more than the Cubs and Athletics.The White Sox were 12th, one behind the Cubs and A's.The Padres ranked 14th, with 109, one behind the Orioles and one ahead of the Giants.Twenty-one teams hit at least 100 solo shots and the Red Sox hit 99.The bottom five were the Blue Jays and Cardinals, with 90; Diamondbacks and Guardians, 89; Angels, 87; and Brewers, just 71 -- fewer than half the Astros' leading 149.The combined average of the 29 teams other than the Cubs was 108 -- seven fewer than the Cubs' 115...........TWO-RUN HOMERSThe Cubs' 67 homers with one on base were the second most, two behind the Tigers' 69 and one ahead of the White Sox's 66.The Yankees hit 64; the Nationals, 62; and the Orioles, 61.Eighteen teams hit at least 50, including the Padres, tied for 11th with 54.The bottom five were the Giants and Rays, 45; Angels, 44; Red Sox, 42; Blue Jays, 40; and Twins, 36.The combined average of the other teams was 52 -- 15 fewer than the Cubs' 67............THREE-RUN HOMERSThe Cubs' 31 blasts with two aboard were the most by two over all other teams. The Mariners and Yankees hit 29; the Brewers, 28; and the Dodgers and Nationals, 27.Eighteen teams hit at least 20.The bottom five were the Giants, Padres and Tigers, all with 16; Guardians and Marlins, 15; and Royals, just 9.The combined average of the other teams was 21 --10 fewer, nearly one third less, than the Cubs' 31...........GRAND SLAMSThe Cubs' seven slams were the third most, behind the Giants' nine and Diamondbacks' eight.Five teams hit six: the Angels, Guardians, Orioles, Twins and White Sox.Seven teams hit five and four, including the Padres, hit four, tying for 16th.The playoff-bound Phillies and Yankees were among four teams that hit three.The Brewers and Rays, the teams with the most wins in the NL and AL, respectively, cleared the bases only once all season. So did the Cardinals and Rangers.The combined average of the other teams was four -- three fewer than the Cubs' seven.

Cubs' runs scored on homers

Was Matthew Boyd the right call for Game 1?

My vote would not be the obvious NY vs LAD matchup. I'd still tune in, probably force myself to root for the Yankees. No, my vote would be Dodgers-Astros! Can you imagine? A 2017 rematch! The mighty Dodgers going for the 3-peat versus everyone's favorite .500 Houston Astros...

Least watchable WS matchup?

Matthew Boyd will start Game 1 for the Cubs 

Phillies won with 3 HR’s and no stolen bases. I can’t wait until Suzuki, Happ, Bregman and Conforto start stealing.

Six also put the game away with a 3 run homer.

Indeed. My point was that before the 3 run home run the White Sox had two men reach by walks. These base runners stole three bases. The Sox also attempted a bunt. Putting pressure on the Astros led to the home run. Now, the White Sox are going to the Divisional Series in Cleveland.

Indeed. My point was that before the 3 run home run the White Sox had two men
reach by walks. These base runners stole three bases. The Sox also attempted a
bunt. Putting pressure on the Astros led to the home run. Now, the White Sox are
going to the Divisional Series in Cleveland.

Six also put the game away with a 3 run homer.

Team's gotta execute what it's built to do and for the Cubs that's getting on base and slugging. They didn't do either.

Team's gotta execute what it's built to do and for the Cubs that's getting on
base and slugging. They didn't do either.

Yeah exactly the Cubs aren't built to play small ball and the players you ask that of weren't in situations to go up and do it? Like how many situations were there to ask Nico to either bunt for a hit or sac bunt today none?

Yeah exactly the Cubs aren't built to play small ball and the players you ask
that of weren't in situations to go up and do it? Like how many situations were
there to ask Nico to either bunt for a hit or sac bunt today none?

Phillies won with 3 HR’s and no stolen bases. I can’t wait until Suzuki, Happ,
Bregman and Conforto start stealing.

Correct. Acuna was inserted as a pinch runner.

Correct. Acuna was inserted as a pinch runner.

One minor correction: the Sox stole three bases in the top of the 6th inning in Houston. Good teams use small ball fundamentals.

Good teams even if flawed execute what they are built to do the Cubs weren't built to play small ball and neither are the Phillies but one of those teams executed what they are built to do.

Good teams even if flawed execute what they are built to do the Cubs weren't
built to play small ball and neither are the Phillies but one of those teams
executed what they are built to do.

One minor correction: the Sox stole three bases in the top of the 6th inning in
Houston.

Good teams use small ball fundamentals.

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