My lord the Cubs bats, man. They are just destroying the ball right now. It is glorious, even if the overall record is not. Very nice to get a win tonight.
Jason Heyward was perfect at the plate, including TWO homers. Victor Caratini had a huge night. Javy Baez went deep. David Bote cleared the bases with a pinch-hit double. On and on.
Cole Hamels started out really shaky in this one, giving up a ridiculous amount of hard contact through the first two innings, but he settled in a bit, got into and out of a couple big jams, wound up going six very strong innings, and finished the night with a big smile:
Cole Hamels, on the Brewers broadcast, just before his final pitch of the night: pic.twitter.com/YiXF1WaamT
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) April 7, 2019
The bullpen was, of course, still absolutely terrible, giving up six runs in its three innings of work.
The new relievers were immediately tasked with getting outs upon Hamels’ departure, and they fit into the bullpen perfectly: Kyle Ryan put two on before he departed, and then Allen Webster gave up a three-run homer to Ryan Braun. You couldn’t draw up a better fit with what the rest of the bullpen has been doing all season.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel like it was all happening again.
And then the Cubs responded with this:
Cubs offense in the 8th after Braun's 3-R HR:
HR
BB
1B
BB
K
2B
BB
2B
1-3
BB
1B
3UIn total: 7 insurance runs.
— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) April 7, 2019
Thankfully, that was plenty to overcome Randy Rosario’s complete inability to just throw strikes (WITH A NINE-RUN LEAD), and then giving up a three-run homer.
As Joe Maddon correctly put it immediately after:
Joe – “I’m so tired of this shit” regarding the bullpen. #Cubs #CubsTalk pic.twitter.com/lcE1EX8HNa
— Chris (@cduta9902) April 7, 2019
But enough about that pervasive terror and frustration. THE CUBS WON ANOTHER GAME!!!