NEWSLETTER
Before the Cubs visited Atlanta on Monday, no Cub had yet hit a homer in the Braves’ new stadium. Because, well, they hadn’t played there yet.
Since then, however, they’ve launched six balls into the seats, including three today, alone!
And although Mike Montgomery, Tommy La Stella, and Javy Baez are not your most typical group of Cubs’ sluggers, they do form the three parts of today’s Homer Party Trio.
In what was probably Mike Montgomery’s final start for the Cubs (for now), he sent a ball WAY out to right field, giving the Cubs a 2-0 lead in process.
Have a day Mike Montgomery pic.twitter.com/m76UWhTCea
— Cubs Talk (@CSNCubs) July 19, 2017
That was the first homer of Montgomery’s career and only his second hit overall! Statcast clocked it at 100 MPH off the bat, before traveling 393 feet.
Then, just one inning later, Tommy La Stella, filling in for an injured Kris Bryant, sent a two-strike knuckle ball out to a similar (albeit closer) spot in right.
Let’s take a look at that one:
Tommy La Stella doing his best Kris Bryant impression pic.twitter.com/Y2baAS0HkD
— Cubs Talk (@CSNCubs) July 19, 2017
That homer was a little softer (96 MPH) and a way shallower (351 feet) than Montgomery’s dinger, but it counts all the same and gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead. It also came as part of a 2-3 (plus a BB) day for La Stella, who’s now hitting .298/.406/.509 in limited duty this season.
And finally, we’ve saved the biggest homer for last. Indeed, I mean that both in terms of game-importance and distance, as Javy Baez sent a three-run shot WAY out to center field (436 feet), while giving the Cubs a 7-2 lead heading into the bottom of the 8th inning.
Bye-Baez pic.twitter.com/X5na0CF4Pr
— Cubs Talk (@CSNCubs) July 19, 2017
Along with a double earlier in the game, Javy Baez now has a three-game multi-hit streak in process and is hitting a much more impressive .275/.312/.485 for the season (98 wRC+). To be sure, his recent numbers are WAY more impressive than that (he was hitting .350/.388/.500 over the past month coming into today), but we’ll have to take a deeper dive soon, especially if he keeps it up.
In any case, Cubs win! Six in a row and back-to-back sweeps sure does feel good.
