When Joe Mauer is able to get a pop fly the other way to reach the basket, you know the conditions at Wrigley Field are SUPER conducive to homers.
It was for that reason that, when that homer happened early and gave Twins a 3-0 lead, I didn’t freak out. Fortunately, that lack of freaking was justified, because, even after falling behind 5-2, the Cubs were still able to come back and turn this one into a route.
Each of Jason Heyward, Addison Russell, Ben Zobrist, and Kyle Schwarber homered in the game, and if not for a dang Anthony Rizzo RBI single, every Cubs run would have come from a homer (what’s wrong with you, man?). Whatever the conditions – warm and windy – it was very nice to see.
Mike Montgomery really didn’t pitch too poorly, as he very nearly got out of both of the run-scoring jams that marred his day (both via Mauer). Sometimes, you’ll have that, and not just on a windy day at Wrigley (though I suppose it’s fair to say that the Mauer homer is a lazy fly ball on a normal day in a normal park – and, while the Cubs certainly took advantage of the wind, too, it’s a little more context on Montgomery’s performance).
All in all, though, given the conditions, solid pitching from the Cubs (even as Justin Wilson once again couldn’t get through a low-ish leverage just-finish-it-out inning). Brandon Morrow’s one-pitch save was clearly the best performance, though Anthony Bass’s clean inning with three strikeouts was also pretty good, I guess.
In the end, you know the story: