Learning A Valuable Lesson After Going To Last Night's Cubs Game

I already had it in the back of my mind when looking at tickets, as the Cubs were going to come to Arizona and play the Diamondbacks. I mean, this was a few months back, when I knew that getting tickets on getaway day maybe wouldn't be the best idea because more likely than not Joe Maddon would give some of the every day players an extra day of rest with Thursday also being an off day. That didn't turn out to be the case, as basically every star player started on Wednesday. However, I didn't buy these tickets two months ago, I bought these tickets last week and I knew then that not only would Thursday be an off day for the Cubs, but it would be their first off day in 30 DAYS! So, not only getaway day for the Cubs, but finally an off day at the tip of their fingers. I had a feeling Wednesday night wasn't going to go well and, ugh...

Yeah. One Addison Russell bloop single in the third inning was their only hit. Now, I'm not saying the Cubs completely tanked it because for starters Robbie Ray has been very good since August and was great again Wednesday pitching for the Diamondbacks. Also, the Cubs did hit some balls hard, but they just didn't get any good luck.

I got to my seat as Albert Almora Jr. was working a great leadoff at-bat against Ray that eventually resulted in a groundout after nine pitches. Kris Bryant looked bad striking out and then Anthony Rizzo walked. Javier Baez stepped up and hit a missile, but Nick Ahmed made a great play. And it was pretty much downhill after that. Cole Hamels had his first bad start with the Cubs and boy was it bad. He was getting absolutely rocked by the Diamondbacks. He allowed five hits and four runs before getting three outs and the game was pretty much over after the first inning. Again, the Cubs had one hit all night and the majority of the at-bats weren't competitive. Ben Zobrist just missed a two-run home run in the sixth inning, but it was caught on the warning track in center and then Hamels gave up three more runs in the bottom of inning. After that, yeah, the Cubs were very much looking forward to flying back home and getting an off day. So, this was a pretty simple, but valuable lesson. Don't buy tickets on getaway day and expect your team to win, no matter how bad the opposing lineup looks, especially when your team hasn't had a day off in a month. I joked right before getting to the game how I forgot to bring a broom for the sweep and then the game was over five batters into the bottom of the first inning. But hey, as crappy as the game was, I can't be mad at the Cubs who just went 18-11, without a day off since the middle of August. p.s. They did a wheel of fortune type game and the answer was "No more rain delays." The Diamondbacks fan who was playing guessed, "No more race delays." So, that was fun at least. Also, I know the Diamondbacks have had a huge fall since August and it wasn't a full house last night, and yes Chase Field is nice, but damn is the atmosphere so dead in there. Of course, the main reason being that most of the fans there were Cubs fans and the Cubs were getting their ass handed to them. OK, one last thing. The bullpen car is cool.