The magic number for beating Rich Harden is 17. That's 17 pitches an inning. If you can force him to throw 17 pitches per inning or more, he will get through no more than 5 innings, as he is generally capped around 85 pitches.
Since it's very difficult to score runs off the the injury-prone Harden (who sometimes seems to be in some sort of sick game of injury one-upsmanship with our own Ben Sheets) getting him out of the game is very valuable. It is important to take pitches against him. It is important to shorten your swing with 2 strikes against you and foul off a few pitches. And it is important to get him out before the Cubs can simply rely on Marmol and (to a lesser extent) Wood.
Can Dave Bush beat Rich Harden? Maybe. If the wind is blowing in again and they knock Harden out early, then yes, Dave Bush can beat Rich Harden and the Cubs.
This is a game where tactics can make a huge difference. Let's see if they can be patient for once.
10 mph wind out of the east this afternoon. If I got my geography right that means it's blowing in from right. That helps.
ReplyDeleteBush will probably still give up a shot or two, but his whip has been excellent lately, with the exception of his Mets start. If he's keeping guys off the bases again today, those long balls will be solo shots and won't hurt so much.
Paul, what's this ticket gonna cost on the street this afternoon. I might have to go see, um, a client in Chicago today.
ReplyDeleteShouldn't be too bad on a Thursday afternoon which doesn't mean much to the Cubbies. I's say before the game you're looking at no more than face + 25%, and you can probably do better than that with a bit of effort.
ReplyDelete2nd inning is probably face - 15% or so.
I'm about 80% confident on these, however playoff fever and Milwaukee travelers may drive things up a bit.
I figure lower level can be had for around 40-50, bleachers wiill probably be pricey, upper for 35.
Even Stubhub prices aren't too bad right now.
ReplyDeleteIf you decide to buy down here, go to Addison just east of Sheffield. There are 4 brokers right next to each other and you can play them off of each other.
batting hand for the lineup please, whomever is doing it.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much
170 games into the season and you don't know who bats how?
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