NEWSLETTER
The Cubs might’ve gone 5-2 on this last home-stand, but they failed to score more than three runs in any of their games and lost in brutal fashion yesterday afternoon (including another Yu Darvish flop).
And on top of everything, that egg of a series finale came the day before an off-day before a night game … which just makes everything that much worse.
Indeed, before the first pitch is thrown tomorrow night, we’ll have gone 50 hours and 50 minutes without any Cubs baseball in our lives, and the last we saw was ugly. So anyway, I’ll excuse you if you’re not in the best baseball-mood.
But perhaps we can break up the frustrating monotony that is days without baseball with a couple of highlights from yesterday’s contest. Namely, the Bryzzo homers.
The first came off the bat of Anthony Rizzo in the bottom of the fourth inning with one out and nobody on. After falling behind in the count (2-0), Tyler Anderson let go of a 94 MPH fastball right down the center of the plate.
Here’s what Rizzo did with it:
¡ @ARizzo44 se despide con toda fuerza de la pelota! #Cachorros añaden una carrera en la pizarra. pic.twitter.com/mmSAv52FDc
— Cachorros de Chicago (@cachorros) May 2, 2018
Okay, so that ball didn’t travel far (375 feet), but Rizzo still gave it a ride (101 MPH) and sent it way up into the jet-stream (44-degree launch angle) to make sure it got out. Sometimes, on windy Wrigley Field days, that’s exactly what you need to do.
That was Rizzo’s second hit of the day, and second homer in as many days. He hasn’t quite turned it all the way around just yet, but that was an encouraging couple of games. Hopefully, he can build on it and, with Kris Bryant, help turn the Cubs offense around.
Speaking of the devil, Bryant also homered yesterday. His came a couple innings after Rizzo’s on a 1-0 pitch that was barely in the zone:
¡@KrisBryant_23 pega misil al jardín izquierdo! #Cachorros recortan la ventaja a 4 carreras. pic.twitter.com/3KGGI6ChOy
— Cachorros de Chicago (@cachorros) May 2, 2018
Bryant’s homer (359 feet) traveled an even shorter distance than Rizzo’s and was hit at just 95 MPH, but the short power alley in left center and the breeze helped it go.
Like Rizzo, Bryant had been going through a bit of a cold stretch, entering into the Rockies series 0 for his last 10, but got a hit in each game thereafter, including a triple and a homer. It’s not much, but keep in mind, he is coming back from being drilled in the head.
With those two long balls, the Cubs have hit a combined 28 dingers this year, which ranks 23 in baseball (though, to be fair, they’ve had the 5th fewest innings yet. Maybe they can turn the offense around when they get to St. Louis. That’d sure be the right time to start. Just hit it harder, boys. It’s that simple, right?
