The Cubs of the last couple of months, had they gone down 3-0 in the first inning as they did Friday afternoon to the Rays at Wrigley Field, might have just stopped hitting completely. You’ve seen that happen way too many times over that time span.
Not Friday. And hopefully, the Cubs’ offensive outbursts in this game are indicative of what’s to come. The Cubs matched the Rays’ three in the second, added two more in the third and one in the fourth, enough for a 6-4 win in the series opener on a gorgeous
September afternoon at Wrigley Field. And it was a varied offense, too, including five walks, two triples, a home run and four early hits with RISP. Good stuff.
Things did not start out well. Matthew Boyd struggled with command in the first inning, allowing a leadoff single and issuing a walk. Then old friend Christopher Morel remembered where he was and smacked a three-run homer, putting the Cubs down 3-0 after only 12 pitches. It was Morel’s 32nd career home run at Wrigley Field, first as a visitor.
But after the Cubs went down scoreless in the bottom of the first, Boyd had a much better 1-2-3 second and then the Cubs offense got to work.
Nico Hoerner led off with a single and took second on a comebacker. Dansby Swanson’s double scored Nico [VIDEO].
Good hustle by Swanson, too, to make that bouncing ball up the middle into a double. Willi Castro followed with a walk. After Matt Shaw struck out, Michael Busch singled in Swanson [VIDEO].
Castro took third on that hit and scored on this single by Ian Happ [VIDEO].
So the Cubs put together a really nice long-sequence offense and tied the game 3-3. About that, from BCB’s JohnW53:
This was the sixth game of the season in which the Cubs overcame a three-run deficit. The first four were between April 6 and 22. In the last of those, they did it twice. They went on to win the game, making them 2-1 at that point. They had lost both since before today, on May 19 and Aug. 31, so now they are 3-3 for the year.
Boyd retired the Rays 1-2-3 in the third and then the Cubs took the lead. With one out, Hoerner walked. That brought up Moises Ballesteros, Friday’s DH [VIDEO].
You can’t see it on that clip but Ballesteros was really motoring around the bases. He now has 24 MLB plate appearances and one triple. In 1,937 minor-league PA he has… two triples. So that was fun!
Dansby Swanson was hit by a pitch that had to go to video review to overturn a call of “foul ball,” and Castro walked to load the bases. Shaw bounced into this force play, scoring Ballesteros [VIDEO].
That made the score 5-3 Cubs. The Rays got back to within one with a single, walk and a second hit in the top of the fourth, but it might have been worse if not for Boyd’s 11th pickoff of the year [VIDEO].
The Cubs got that run right back in the bottom of the inning on Happ’s 21st home run of the year [VIDEO].
More on Happ’s blast from John:
Ian Happ’s homer leading off the fourth inning completed a team batting cycle. It was the Cubs’ 17th of the season, breaking a tie with the Diamondbacks, Giants and Tigers for the most. The Cubs are 16-1 in those games, with the loss coming at Houston, 7-4, on June 27. Only the Blue Jays have a higher percentage, 1.000, but they are just 5-0.
After that it was all Cubs pitching. Boyd finished off his outing strong, with a 1-2-3 fifth. Overall it wasn’t a great outing, but after Morel’s home run Boyd allowed just two hits and a walk over the next four innings. It was enough to get him his 13th win.
And the Cubs bullpen slammed the door shut tight, something they had done quite well earlier in the season. Porter Hodge, Drew Pomeranz, Brad Keller and Andrew Kittredge all threw one perfect inning, with a total of five strikeouts. Kittredge seems well-suited to take the closer role while Daniel Palencia is out, he appears to have the right mound presence and keeps his pitch count low. In this case the first two ground outs were recorded on just three pitches and then it took just four more for Kittredge to record this K to end the game [VIDEO].
I haven’t posted this for quite some time but I think it feels right this afternoon:
Good pitching, timely hitting, the usual solid defense… keep this up and the Cubs might actually have themselves a good October.
Here are some postgame comments from Happ [VIDEO].
The win lowered the Cubs’ magic number to clinch a postseason spot to 7, and to clinch the top wild-card spot to 12. And with this win, their 84th, they now have their most wins in a single season since 2019. One more will make it the most since 2018, when they won 95.
The Cubs will go for the series win Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Colin Rea will start for the Cubs and Drew Rasmussen will go for the Rays. Game time is again 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
