Not to be lost in the Joe Maddon fireworks or the Robel Garcia story, or even just the fact that the Cubs finally won another game, Kris Bryant had one of his biggest days in a long time.
Not only did Bryant kick off the scoring with a shot to right center, he went on to notch four hits on the day, including three extra-base hits. That’s not common:
Today is Kris Bryant's 5th career game with 3 or more extra-base hits. #Cubs
— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) July 4, 2019
Bryant homered, doubled twice (one of them just missing a second homer by a foot), and singled. The big day, which continues a tradition of Bryant having huge games on our nation’s birthday, shot his season line up from .285/.393/.528 (140 wRC+) to .294/.399/.548 (146).
Although his teammate Willson Contreras had a really nice day, too, Bryant’s actually pushed him just ahead for the team lead in wRC+ (Contreras is at 145). The pair of All-Stars are now 9th and 10th in the NL.
Enjoy Bryant’s bashing: