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Once again the Dodgers lost a close game because they couldn't get any timely hitting and the hitting they did get lacked much of a punch. The Dodgers hit into three double plays, with leverage indexes of 1.54 (R.Martin 6th inning), 1.50 (J.Loney, 2nd inning) and 1.42 (L.Maza, 1st inning). The Dodgers only had one hit in 14 above average leverage situations, and that was Maza's 10th inning leadoff single. Not surprisingly, the two top WPA leaders from this game were the starting pitchers. Derek Lowe posted an impressive WPA of .498 and Carlos Zambrano .311. Alfonso Soriano who had the game winning walk off single in the bottom of the 10th inning, ended the game with a WPA of .265. One interesting and possibly contraversial managerial decision from this game was when Joe Torre had Derek Lowe bat in the top of the 7th inning, with the score tied 1-1, two outs and a runner on third base. Lowe's at-bat carried a leverage index of 1.66 and his subsequent out, lowering the Dodgers win expectancy by 4.6%. Lowe did go on to pitch a scoreless 7th inning, but was it worth sending your pitcher up to bat in such a high leverage situation when he only had one more inning left in him? The Cubs on the otherhand had seven plate appearances with a leverage index greater than three. In those 7 plate appearances, Cubs hitters went 2 for 4, with two walks and a sac-fly.



Win Expectancy Graph



Win Expectancy / Leverage Index (Game Landmarks)
1st Highest Game WPA: .498 - Derek Lowe
2nd Highest Game WPA: .311 - Carlos Zambrano
3rd Highest Game WPA: .265 - Alfonso Soriano
Highest Dodgers LI at-bat: 3.43 - Blake DeWitt, Top 4th, Walk.
Highest Cubs LI at-bat: 8.78 - Geovony Soto, Bottom 9th, Sac-Fly RBI.
Largest WPA Play: .298 - Alfonso Soriano, Bottom 10th, Single.
Largest Negative WPA Play: -.133 - Mark DeRosa, Bottom 9th, Fly Out.
80% WPA Threshold moment: Bottom 10th, Alfonso Soriano, Single (Win 2-1).
95% WPA Threshold moment: Bottom 10th, Alfonso Soriano, Single (Win 2-1).

Performance Under Pressure
Team	AB	Hits	Walks	HRs	Ave	OBP	SLG	OPS
Dodgers	14	1	3 BB,HBP,ERR	0	.071	.176	.071	.247
Cubs	22	6	3	0	.273	.360	.273	.633

Note: This study looks at all plate appearances in situations that have an above average leverage index (average is 1.00).