NEWSLETTER
In support of yesterday’s 7-4 win over the Red Sox, the Cubs homered three times for the first time in a game since a week ago in Cincinnati. Anthony Rizzo’s two-run shot started the comeback, Miguel Montero’s solo homer tied the game, and Ben Zobrist’s solo shot put it on ice.
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You can watch Ben Zobrist’s shot over the Green Monster here, and Miguel Montero’s monster homer to right here (unfortunately he homered too quickly, and the camera wasn’t quite ready for the pitch).
And here’s Rizzo’s bomb:
.@ARizzo44, always giving back. #TeamRizzo pic.twitter.com/Dx7F8aWTzK
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 30, 2017
Montero’s blast was the single biggest win expectancy improvement in the game for the Cubs. They’d trailed until that moment in the 6th inning, and then after that, they wouldn’t trail again.
It was also a really significant blast:
Miguel Montero’s seventh-inning home run was calculated at 450 feet — his longest since his 458-foot shot June 9, 2012. pic.twitter.com/BmY4coi2cr
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 29, 2017
Montero had a little fun with that factoid, retweeting that data, and then sending this out:
https://twitter.com/miggymont26/status/858478001318752261
Montero’s blast was the longest of the day for the Cubs, but Rizzo’s (415 feet) and Zobrist’s (380) weren’t cheapies.
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Rizzo’s homer was his sixth of the year, and fifth in his last eight games. Dude is hot. He is the team leader in homers right now, with twice as many dingers as Kris Bryant, Jason Heyward, Kyle Schwarber, and now also Zobrist, each of whom have three.
If those numbers seem low, they are, kinda: despite having the kind of power-loaded lineup you’d expect to see hitting bombs with regularity, the Cubs’ 27 team homers are 16th in baseball. (Incredibly, the Red Sox have just 14 homers all year, the least in baseball. Crap, I just guaranteed they hit like five tonight, didn’t I?)
If Rizzo knocks a couple more tonight, he can get onto one of our Baseball is Fun graphics, which have been strikingly Cubs-light all year:
Chicks dig the long ball.
Posted by Baseball Is Fun on Sunday, April 30, 2017
