Cubs Advance to Semis After Cardinals Beat Royals in Statis-Pro

Having already done their job with two dominant wins to even their final pool play at 2-2 with a +6 run differential, the Chicago Cubs advance to a semifinal pod with the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays when St. Louis held on to beat Kansas City. It wasn't that the Royals collapsed after the surprising 2-0 start - it was always the case that with No. 3 and 4 pitchers who were PB 2-5 the 3rd and 4th games would be tough. 

Noah Cameron did in fact give up 6 hits and 4 runs in only 2 innings, and while both pullpens pitched well, that 4-0 deficit was too much to overcome as the Royals fell 6-3 to be eliminated and the Cardinals evened their record but were still 12 runs short of catching the Cubs in run differential.

Alec Burleson was the hitting star with 4 hits and 3 runs scored for the win.

One of the other semifinal pods is also set with the Dodgers, Red Sox and the one suprise team to advance so far the Mets. The final of 3 semifinal pods is not yet set, but the Dbacks, Twins and Phillies have the edge. If those three play out, then 7 of the top 10 in current power ratings would advance in Statis-Pro, with the two surprises being the #16 power rated Twins and the #25 Mets who were expected to be elite to begin the season. The two surprises to be eliminated are the #4 Braves and #6 Yankees.

 

PB-	Pod F pitchers	Opp	Score	Allow	Result	Proj ERA
4'-7	David Peterson	KCR	7	1	W	3.65
2'-7	Edward Cabrera	KCR	2	5	L	3.96
2'-7	Justin Steele	StL	3	5	L	3.63
2'-6	Matthew Boyd	StL	5	0	W	3.93
	Chicago Cubs totals		17	11	2-2, +6	Advances
2'-8	Cole Ragans	Chc	5	2	W	3.31
2'-5	Seth Lugo	Chc	0	5	L	4.50
2'-7	Kris Bubic	StL	8	4	W	3.91
2'-5	Noah Cameron	StL	3	6	L	4.26
	KC Royals totals		16	17	2-2, -1	Eliminated
2'-6	Matthew Liberatore	KCR	6	3	W	4.35
4'-7	Michael McGreevy	Chc	5	3	W	4.05
2'-6	Dustin May	KCR	4	8	L	4.22
2'-6	Andre Pallante	Chc	1	7	L	4.33
	St. Louis totals		16	21	2-2, -5	Eliminated