Cool Hand Lucroy

I definitely remember the system, but I confess I thought it was 1 THROUGH 5? I mean, if you're going to do 1, 3, 5, why not just do 1, 2, 3?

That's just a silly challenge by the Cubs. Now you don't have one if your strong offense gets you back in it. And for what? To save 90 feet in a 6-run game? Oof.

Tough to overturn that. And a good time to complain about replay making these kinds of plays challengeable.

This is true, although it's somewhat mitigated by all four rounds being 7-game series. I'd say baseball is more random, but it's close.

I do wonder how/if this Cubs season is different without all their pitching injuries. They've had bad luck there. OTOH, that bullpen has been a weakness for years. It's just something the current iteration of the org has failed at consistently.

You never punt in baseball, but today definitely feels like a day where you're committed to giving the bullpen a lot of rest. Henderson, Sproat, Romero, and Uribe for a save situation. A sweep would be awesome. Can't wait to celebrate this division title. And let's try to make the Cubs sweat the playoffs as much as possible.

I don't think I'd go to Megill in a tie. Alright. Get Turang in!

That's a bummer. I'm hoping it'll stream soon for folks.

I guess the good news is we're done with Civale for a while after tonight. Not a guy I want to see in October.

Definitely one you can pin on the offense if it turns out the wrong way.

I think that actually worked out well for the Brewers. Get past that spot in the order.

Well, the silver lining is this. If Ashby can get PCA, you can go to a righty to start the 8th and not have to worry about choosing between a lefty vs. Suzuki and Bregman or a righty against PCA.

LOL. CC is mad about the ump saving Shaw from a bad challenge.

A bit odd to bring him out for only the one out, but I imagine there was some conversation about it. Only 93 pitches is good, and he can't lose it. He cruised after the leadoff walk in the second inning.

Big inning here. Bottom of the order. Would love to get Mis through easy.

As a Brewer fan, Civale looks like prime Mariano coming out of the pen in a Cubs uniform.

Just got this notice in my inbox. If we have Brewers.tv subscribers, the Ueck documentary is going to be available to stream for 24 hours, starting at 6PM on Thursday, 9/10. Times up perfectly for an off day. Not sure if there's another thread dedicated to the doc (I imagine there is), but I thought it worth separate mention.

Yes. Mis with a shot to get through 7 now. Get him some runs.

I wouldn't sleep on the series with the Astros either. I know they aren't great, but they are in need of wins for the division race.

Whew! I think that about sticks a fork in the Cubs, as far as the division goes, but it'd sure be nice to grab the next two too, especially given who we'll have on the bump. On ABS, I've said it before, so I won't belabor the point. My belief is that strikes have an aesthetic element, and that's a good thing. Not every pitch in the same spot should be a strike. I don't mind umpires valuing (consistently) vertical or horizontal edges, within reason. ABS exists to correct obvious errors in key situations, which is why the challenge system is a nice compromise. It theoretically gives control to the teams, especially when faced with either bad calls or excessively individual ones in crucial spots, while still allowing a strike to be subject to certain, fair bounds of interpretation. Moving into a binary world isn't a great thing. I'd prefer my strike zones slightly ambiguous, just as real life often is. More than that, fans expecting players to challenge when they get the benefit of immediate feedback on a sphere bending and swerving at 95 mph belies the inherent uncertainty of balls and strikes. The whole point is for the pitcher to throw an edge pitch that the batter thinks is a strike but is actually not hittable. Giving everyone a flat, falsely certain strike zone wrecks that entire back and forth. Every AB is a three-way negotiation. I can live with introducing a robot as a limited arbitrator. The idea of making it the ultimate arbitrator all the time flattens the game and makes it less interesting. It takes a messy, nuanced, human process, and makes it flat and binary, giving us illusory defined edges instead of blurry borders. Let me look uncertainty full in the face rather than surround myself with a false blanket of truth. As for other notes on the game, I'm pumped we got to see Chourio and Lara shine in the last couple innings. Joey Ortiz was excellent. Gasser probably won't get enough credit for what a strong performance that was. If Murph isn't treating this like a playoff game (good for him!), I doubt he brings in Patrick in the 5th. That move was a "this is for real" kind of move. That 8th inning was just Brewers offense in a time capsule. They've done nothing all game, but they pressure the starter out, draw tough walks, hit a sac fly, and win by putting the ball in play, even with two strikes. Feels so good to take the lead in the 8th, knowing you only need three outs. And what great defense in the ninth. Megill got hit pretty good, but credit to the Cubs for doing it. And, yeah, it's hard not to be impressed by their CF. Nearly won it for them single-handedly today. The easy SBs were impressive. When I watch that guy play defense, combined with everything else, it's hard not to see an MVP. I don't like him, but he's good. With the Braves dropping one, we're back to a 3.5 game lead there. I wouldn't necessarily mind the Dodgers catching us for the one seed, but I'm getting more and more at peace with playing the Cubs in the playoffs. I'd rather not, but I doubt the Brewers are afraid of the emotional baggage fans like me have a hard time shaking.

Gasser missed his spot, and Contreras caught the ball inside Suzuki's batter's box. It was diving hard in.

No one will ever be good at challenging that pitch.

ABS is not a human person. You cannot expect a human person to perfectly understand it. Be mad at Bill about other ones, okay. But being upset about that one is silly.

The calls for Contreras to challenge that pitch are exactly why the strike zone box on the broadcast is misleading. That pitch has not been a strike the entire history of baseball. He'd literally have to be a robot to challenge it.

Fair point! I don't know what schedule Sproat was on, but I imagine he's fresher than Anderson would've been, so I guess I only mean "fresh" in a relative sense.