Javy Báez, and the Cubs, needed a night like that. Maybe it’s just one game, or maybe it’s a night where Báez started to see the ball much better. He’d actually had a couple better looking games at the end of the White Sox series, so maybe?
It was a great night for David Bote, too, who actually got a hit with the bases loaded. He was the last Cub to do it back on Wednesday, too.
On the mound, although he gave up a two-run homer in his final inning of work, overall, Alec Mills was fantastic tonight. He was the version of Mills we love to see: locating all his pitches all over the zone, changing speeds constantly, yielding very little hard contact, picking up some strikeouts along the way. I especially liked to see it after the implosion against the Cardinals. He bounced back.
Ryan Tepera continues to look so dang good out there, as hitters react to the cutter and his 95 mph fastball with befuddlement. And Colin Rea slid back into a typical relief role, which I dig.