Well, if you were looking for the Cubs’ offense to break out in the wake of a deep, long, team-wide slump, they’ve certainly done it tonight.
It wasn’t just the leadoff homer by leadoff-man-of-the-night Anthony Rizzo, it was a SEVEN-run second inning by the team. More than that, all the run-scoring started after there were already two outs.
Kyle Schwarber walked with one out, and then Willson Contereras grounded into a fielder’s choice. So, then, with two outs: Jon Lester singled, Albert Almora Jr. walked, Anthony Rizzo walked, Ian Happ hit a grand slam, Kris Bryant singled, Jason Heyward singled, Addison Russell doubled, and then Schwarber struck out to end the inning.
Yo. That’s a nice inning.
Here’s the Ian Happ grand slam (via @Cubs):
Tourists causing trouble in the Big Apple. pic.twitter.com/A3YJcC85AJ
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 14, 2017
That, by the way, is why you don’t tell hitters to AUTOMATICALLY take pitches just because the opposing pitcher has been wild. Sometimes, he’s wild in the zone, too.
A very well-struck ball for Happ, and I love seeing it go the opposite way:
— Cubs Exit Velocity (@cubsexitvelo) June 13, 2017