Okay, so I’m a little annoyed that my five-leg parlay came exactly one Seiya Suzuki hit short of paying off (and he was HBP in his final at-bat, which was just brutal). BUUUUUT the Cubs won the game and the series, so that’s a nice consolation prize … I guess!
Lost money aside, this was actually a really great game for the CUbs. Justin Steele was dominant once again, striking out 9 batters while lasting 6.0 strong innings. He had some trouble staying efficient lately, especially when he was racking up the strikeouts, but today, he was as good as we’ve seen him. He really is one of the absolute best developments to come out of this pretty crappy season. I just love watching him pitch.
And while the box score will show two earned runs over his 6.0 IP, the first runner that crossed the plate was not really Steele’s fault (Ortega made a questionable decision to slide for a shallow fly ball with two outs that did not pay off).
But there’s so much more good than that.
Rowan Wick got a 1.1 inning save, Nico Hoerner went deep, Nick Madrigal knocked one for extra bases as part of a two-hit game, and Franmil Reyes had a couple of knocks, himself.
There’s nothing like a come-from-behind win at Wrigley Field. Go Cubs.
P.S. Because they won, I have no issue sharing this absolutely phenomenal catch by Nationals center fielder Victor Robles.