Rizzo Makes History, Cubs Go For Another Sweep, Rivera Grand Slam, and Other Bullets

Sep 03, 2017

There’s a lot I want to dig into about yesterday’s game, but I’ve gotta apologize – family wedding stuff is shrinking my window of writing time this morning to about nothing (I don’t see a lot of these folks but once a year, so I’m gonna take advantage). I’ve gotta breeze a bit …

The Cubs go for the four-game sweep today against the Braves, after a three-game sweep of the Pirates. The Cubs pulled off back-to-back sweeps only one other time this season, and it was coming right out of the All-Star Break, when they swept the Orioles and then swept these same Braves. Yup: the Cubs are undefeated against the Braves so far this year, and can make it a clean 7-0 with a win today.

Big moment for Anthony Rizzo, who is in historic Cubs company:

.@ARizzo44 is the 4th Cub ever with at least three seasons of 30+ 2B, 30+ HR and 100+ RBI.

He's just the 2nd to do it three straight years. pic.twitter.com/syHLTOZBeE

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 2, 2017

The other Cub, for the record, is not who I would have guessed (Sammy Sosa). It was Hack Wilson, who actually did it four seasons in a row. (For a guy so well-remembered, and who holds records, Wilson sure had a very short peak.) Sosa and Billy Williams also each pulled off three seasons like that, just not in row.

Speaking of Rizzo, his recent blistering hot stretch has his season line up to .283/.399/.542, which is good for a 143 wRC+. He was 144 last year. And 145 the year before. Anthony Rizzo is both insanely good and insanely consistent.

The Cubs officially added outfielder Leonys Martin yesterday, while also activating Jon Lester from the disabled list. The former required a 40-man roster move, and the Cubs DFA’d lefty Jack Leathersich to make room for Martin.

You have to stretch to find a good streak for Jason Heyward these days, but he’s gone .342/.422/.447 since August 20. The issue there, though, is that the .105 ISO and .353 BABIP don’t inspire a lot of confidence that this will last beyond these 45 plate appearances.

Rene Rivera can still hit lefties a bit, but he certainly wasn’t brought in by the Cubs for his bat, and certainly not against righties. But yesterday, on an 0-2 pitch from a righty, Rivera cracked his first career grand slam:

Congrats to @ReneRivera13 (and thanks!) for hitting his first career grand slam! pic.twitter.com/MA18Uqk2aA

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 2, 2017

Best part? New Cubs reliever Dillon Maples was ready to get down:

.@dsmaples: Ready for The Show. pic.twitter.com/k7SR0hnla1

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 2, 2017

The pitcher reaction on that one was also fantastic. *continue spinning, hang head in shame*

Speaking of pitcher reactions, this is cracking me up from the Nationals hanging on to beat the Brewers:

"Please no, please no, please no … anybody? are we good? is it ok?" (via @PitchingNinja) pic.twitter.com/85gD0PVgF1

— Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats) September 3, 2017

Niiiiiiiice:

Buncha new Cubs stuff on clearance at Fanatics, and I am very here for this: https://t.co/AyMjbRHQmB pic.twitter.com/u73VRSg13h
— Brett Taylor (@BleacherNation) September 3, 2017

It was cut day in the NFL yesterday, which means Luis has your first look a the Bears’ 53-man roster … which will change as soon as today when waiver claiming starts. The Bears open up in one week from today!

Great deal of the day today at Amazon on a bunch of outdoor goods – lots of stuff worth checking out.

written by

Brett Taylor

Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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