NEWSLETTER
Travis Wood did it all for the Cubs in this one, pitching fantastically (9 K and 0 BB? get outta here), and driving in four runs on a homer and a double. The Cubs ease their own woes slightly at the expense of the Diamondbacks’ continued woes. Good by me.
The box says that Ryan Sweeney was just 1 for 4, but I think it’s only fair – given how much he’s been struggling – to point out that he crushed the ball three times … into three outs, including two fantastic plays by Aaron Hill at second. His one hit came on the only ball he didn’t hit hard. Sweeney’s night should have been better.
Below Sweeney in the order, everyone had a couple hits. It was a good night to be a “lesser” hitter. Travis Wood looked so good with the bat that the Diamondbacks affirmatively changed pitchers with the bases loaded when Wood came up to the plate. Like, as in, Kirk Gibson wanted to bring on a situational reliever to face Wood.
Aside: It seemed innocuous enough at the time (and proved to be), but, in the bottom of the 6th inning, with the Cubs up 5-0, Welington Castillo singled to center with Starlin Castro on second base. Tony Campana doesn’t have much of an arm, so sending Castro seemed like a no-brainer. Instead, Castro was held, semi-understandably, with nobody out and Travis Wood’s bat lurking after Ryan Kalish. Still, I groused about the decision. A Kalish groundout and a Wood doubleplay later, and I was fairly annoyed that the Cubs had failed to score that run.
Back to the good stuff …
