I know it doesn’t matter, I know it’s just the Pirates, and I know there were some bumps along the way, but … today’s game was another fun one. It just was. And while the Cubs aren’t playing for much collectively at the moment, there are still so many important individual performances to track (many of which totally popped off this afternoon).
Ian Happ, for example, had another three-hit game, and while one of them was a little dinky, the other two were roundly smoked. Plus, all three hits came from the right side of the plate, which has historically been his weaker side. Michael Hermosillo, for another, started this game off with his hair on fire, knocking a double, a two-run single, and a mammoth home run onto Waveland (can we start him everyday yet?). And then there’s Frank Schwindel, who also had three hits today, including his fourth home run over the last five games.
And it wasn’t just the hitters!
Alec Mills actually looked pretty sharp today, and if it weren’t for an error (that led to the Cubs third manager taking over), the Pirates wouldn’t have scored 5 runs. As it stands, only two runs were earned and he struck out 6 Pirates without walking any. After he exited, Trevor Megill was lighting up the radar gun, adding 3 strikeouts over his 1.1 innings of work. Codi Heuer again flashed the sort of dominance that makes you understand why the Cubs wanted him in the first place. And then Rowan Wick closed it out efficiently, with three straight strikeouts, hitting 95 MPH along the way.
Ultimately, losing these games would be more beneficial to the Cubs long-term, but (1) the Pirates are bad … like really bad, so that was never going to be easy, especially at Wrigley, and (2) when the right guys are the ones helping the Cubs win, the guys with some chance of being important next season and beyond, you’re able to deal with the garbage time wins a little easier. What can I say, I’m a sucker for the Cubs winning.
Two more games against the Pirates this weekend. Let’s see how it plays out.