Grabbing a lead didn’t take long!
After Kris Bryant singled, Anthony Rizzo walked, and Ben Zobrist singled, Addison Russell was charged with doing some two-out damage against young Cardinals righty Luke Weaver, who has pretty much been brilliant at the big league level this year.
And Russell came through in a big way:
Now THAT'S how you start a rivalry series
Stream here: https://t.co/Jvy4jHB7Gq pic.twitter.com/PZhCcJSQQu
— Cubs Talk (@CSNCubs) September 26, 2017
I love that approach. Two strikes, a pitch on the outer half, and Russell simply tries to barrel it where the pitch is. Sure, the terrible route in right field by Stephen Piscotty helped turn this into a bases-clearing double, but that was still a 98.4 mph, 305 foot double the opposite way. Great stroke by Russell.
And for good measure, Jason Heyward immediately followed with a two-out double of his own to score Russell, and stake the Cubs to an early 4-0 lead against the Cardinals.