NEWSLETTER
For the second straight game, Chicago Cubs pitching held down the clear best offense in baseball. It was incredible. Special nods to Adbert Alzolay for playing the part of mini-Marcus-Stroman tonight, taking the final two innings and just saying, “I got this.”
After Nico Hoerner’s leadoff homer, the Cubs got the winning run in the form of a Mike Tauchman two-out hit, as he continues to make the most of his opportunity:
Kyle Hendricks had another night that I think you would fairly have to call mixed, albeit with more good than bad. He was giving up a whole lot of hard contact and the damage could’ve been more significant. On the other hand, he was so close to getting a number of key calls, the Rays ultimately scored only one, and that’s a heckuva a monster lineup he was facing. I’m not sure his performance was actually all that different from his first outing (which I thought featured some bad luck), he just got better results tonight. So, then, I was encouraged last time, and I’m encouraged this time.
Thankfully this didn’t matter: With nobody out in the bottom of the 8th inning, the Cubs loaded the bases, looking for some all-important insurance runs. Unfortunately Trey Mancini grounded into the worst kind of double-play, out at home and at first. They got a second chance, this time with two outs, after Mike Tauchman walked, but Patrick Wisdom flew out. The Cubs’ brutal troubles with the bases loaded continue.
Some great defense tonight. Loved a lot of what I saw out there, and in a one-run game, it stands out all the more.
The Cubs had a great chance to add on in the 4th, with two on and one out, but Patrick Wisdom hit an absolute ROCKET right at the center fielder, and then Yan Gomes flew out deep to right after a lengthy at bat. Two very good plate appearances, where you do almost everything you can, and sometimes the game just doesn’t reward you. It wasn’t like they squandered the chance – the balls just didn’t fall in.
Then in the top of the 5th, the Rays got their first run of the night after Kyle Hendricks juuuuust missed putting away Wander Franco with two outs. That instead yielded a very close walk, put a runner in scoring position, and Randy Arozarena pulled one into left field to drive in the run. Not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, but set against the prior inning where the Cubs didn’t score despite some great at bats … it was one of those random “curse a little too loud in the family room” situations. I had concerns.
But I shouldn’t have doubted the bullpen!
