Once again, the Cubs seemed to have played to the level of their competition. They took the first game not necessarily because they played all that well, but because they got their usual fine pitching and managed to be patient enough at the plate to pull out a tenth inning victory.
The other two games, despite good pitching, fell back into the pattern of no hitting when runners are on base or when it is cold outside. Ramirez is definitely all screwed up. His double play ball in the seventh was a key play. But in general the last two games showed bad baseball, especially today's.
You also have to question Piniella's moves in the eighth inning after the Byrd double. Fontenot certainly failed to move the runner to third, but Tracy, while the percentage move, was a questionable decision, and using Nady instead of Soto who is hot and had to enter the game anyway is also an odd call.
Lou was certainly testy in the post-game interview. In fact, his performance was pretty nearly inexcusable and just plain obnoxious. The reporter - I don't know who it was - had every right to question him, but like many guys who are basically bullies at heart, Piniella got all defensive and hurt and lashed out.
Look, as Lou is so fond of saying, look, if your teams consistently play uptight and don't produce in the clutch, maybe there's something wrong with your own style. And maybe if you didn't manage on auto-pilot all the time, you'd get different results. Maybe you'd get better results.
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