Bye-bye

Talk about Christmas come early for White Sox fans.  Ex-Sox Jose Quintana gets the must-win start to stave off elimination for the Cubs in the NLCS, and he can’t get out of the third inning; six hits leading to six runs do not a win make, as evidenced by the 11-1 final score, Los Angeles.  But wait, there’s more.

Thank you, Kíké Hernandez.  The Dodgers’ left fielder hit not one, not two, but three homeruns, and he didn’t showboat around the bases once.  One can only hope that Javy Baez and Willson Contreras took notes (and, yes, Yasiel Puig, too).  Not only did Hernandez power his team into the World Series, he probably punched the tickets of Cub pitchers John Lackey and Hector out of town.  But wait, there’s still more.

Take Cubs’ manager Joe Maddon, and a whole bunch of fans sound as if they wish someone would.  The honeymoon is definitely over.  Maddon’s strange pitching moves in the 2016 World Series raised questions that were silenced by a game-seven victory, People are talking again after what can only be described as some real Maddon head-scratchers this season: Kyle Schwarber batting leadoff, Lackey appearing in back-to-back games in the NLCS as a reliever, a misplaced faith in setup man Car Edwards Jr.  Oh, and Maddon refuses to admit that he’s ever wrong.  Joe, meet Donald Trump.

Wait, there’s also this final stocking stuffer.  Soon-to-be free agent closer Wade Davis made two straight appearances where he needed over 40 pitches to record a save.  Then there was Jon Lester’s start, where he needed 101 pitches to make it to two out in the fifth.  Last night, Quintana threw 50 pitches before getting the hook from Maddon in the third.  Either those high pitch counts were all a bizarre coincidence, or they’re evidence of something else.  Might pitching coach Chris Bosio be in hot water, or Contreras?  Everybody raves about his arm, but those pitch counts could indicate a problem with his game calling.

Like I said, it’s Christmas come early on the South Side.