"Well, the Cubs' offense didn't do much again tonight, but they did enough! And enough is all it took to avoid a five-game losing streak, which feels like a pretty big relief. I don't know what it is about the difference between a four-game streak and a five-game streak (of either variety), but the latter feels like a tier up in relevance. A five-game losing streak is panic. A four-game losing streak is just a blip on the journey."
"So, I'm just going to take the win and be happy, especially with the upstart White Sox and surging Brewers up next. That could've turned into a mind-numbingly brutal stretch. Okay, so how did they win tonight? Pitching, pitching, and more pitching."
"It started with the Ankin Law: "Making it Personal" Player of the Game, one Mr. Benjamin Brown. Since moving into the Cubs rotation, Brown has thrown 8 scoreless innings over two starts. And in those eight innings, he's allowed just one hit (tonight), two walks (one each night), and nothing else, while striking out 10. We're going to dig into his start tomorrow, but the knuckle curve was doing most of the heavy lifting, and he actually threw more changeups than sinkers (a product of the left-handed Braves lineup, no doubt)."
"But that's the beauty of having multiple pitches, he wasn't even ABLE to try a different approach before this season. Now, he's got multiple ways to attack a lineup, even a great one like the Braves. The next step, however, is increasing the workload. Brown was pulled at 65 pitches tonight, after throwing 46 in his first start."
The Cubs won despite another quiet offense, preventing a five-game losing streak. The win came primarily from pitching. Benjamin Brown, named Player of the Game, delivered two scoreless starts since joining the rotation, totaling eight scoreless innings with one hit allowed, two walks, and 10 strikeouts. His knuckle curve generated much of the impact, and he threw more changeups than sinkers against the Braves. Multiple pitches limited hitters’ ability to adjust. Brown’s workload was managed, as he was pulled after 65 pitches, following 46 pitches in his first start, with an emphasis on increasing innings over time.
Read at Bleacher Nation
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