The Cubs returned to Wrigley Field Tuesday in need of sort of a pick-me-up after a 13-13 June and having lost seven of their last 11.
They got exactly what they needed: Excellent pitching, both starting and relieving; timely hitting; and the usual good defense. All of that added up to a 5-2 Cubs win over the Guardians in the opener of a three-game series on an absolutely gorgeous weather evening at the North Side ballyard.
Matthew Boyd pitched around traffic in the first two innings. One of the outs was a strikeout of an old nemesis of his, José Ramirez, on a 96 mile per hour fastball [VIDEO].
Then the Cubs offense got to work. Pete Crow-Armstrong led off with a single — to left field, and that’s a really good sign for him [VIDEO].
Dansby Swanson singled him to third, and PCA scored on this single by Michael Busch [VIDEO].
Swanson stopped at second on that hit, but both he and Busch scored on this double by Carson Kelly [VIDEO].
Kelly took third on the throw to the infield.
So the Cubs already have three runs in the inning with runners on first and third and nobody out, a possible setup for a very big inning.
Unfortunately, what followed is what I’m going to call an Immaculate TOOTBLAN. All three Cubs outs in the inning followed in rapid succession — all on the basepaths.
First, a pitch got away from Bo Naylor. Kelly tried to score, but that pitch didn’t get far enough away and Kelly was out at the plate [VIDEO].
Nico Hoerner, at bat on that play, followed with a walk. Then he was picked off. Then Matt Shaw walked, and Gavin Williams picked him off, too. Here are both TOOTBLANs [VIDEO].
More on the pickoffs from BCB’s JohnW53:
Cubs runners had been picked off at least twice in 57 previous games, beginning with 15 in the Deadball Era. This is the eighth such game since 2000. The last was in 5-4, 13-inning loss to the Phillies at Wrigley on May 4, 2017.
They have been picked off three times in four games. The first two were Sept. 14 and 29, 1914, vs. the Pirates and Braves. The others were June 25, 1979, vs. the Phillies and Sept. 11, 1989, vs. the Expos. The first, third and fourth were at home. The Cubs lost each game. They won the only one on the road, at Boston.
Well. None of that is good, but the Cubs did still have a 3-0 lead. The lead was reduced to 3-2 in the fifth when Boyd allowed a leadoff double to Carlos Santana and walked Lane Thomas. An RBI single and sac fly made it 3-2.
It was just then that Boyd decided to join the pickoff party [VIDEO].
The game stayed that way until the bottom of the sixth, when Seiya Suzuki led off with his 23rd home run [VIDEO].
Suzuki remains on pace for 40 home runs. Only one Japanese-born player has ever done that, and I’m sure you know that’s Shohei Ohtani. Only one other Japanese-born player has even hit 30 — Hideki Matsui did that with 31 in 2004. Suzuki seems a lock to get past that.
Boyd completed seven innings, allowing five hits and two runs, striking out five. After that fourth-inning walk he retired 11 Guardians in a row. He threw 88 pitches (60 strikes). Here are Boyd’s five K’s [VIDEO].
And here’s more on Boyd’s outing [VIDEO].
Brad Keller threw a scoreless eighth, issuing a one-out walk. He was helped out by this nice catch by Nico [VIDEO].
The Cubs asked for a review of that “safe” call at first base, but it was ruled “call stands.”
In the bottom of the eighth, the Cubs plated an insurance run. PCA led off with a single and was forced at second by Swanson. Busch followed with a single, his third hit of the game, with Swanson taking third.
Kelly’s fly ball to right scored Swanson to make it 5-2 [VIDEO].
Daniel Palencia earned his ninth save with a 1-2-3 ninth, hitting 102 on the Wrigley pitch speed meter a couple of times. But it was a slider that recorded the final out [VIDEO].
Here are some postgame comments from Boyd [VIDEO].
And here are Craig Counsell’s postgame remarks [VIDEO].
One last note on this win from BCB’s JohnW53:
With their win, the Cubs reached 50 on the third-earliest date since 1901.
They were 50-26 after winning on June 28, 2016, and 50-26-1 after winning on June 29, 1969.
Their next earliest date until now had been on July 3, 1907, when a win made their record 50-16-1.
It should be noted that in two of the three seasons mentioned above, the Cubs won the World Series.
The Brewers were rained out in New York, so the Cubs’ NL Central lead increased to 2½ games. The Brewers and Mets will play two today. The Pirates did the Cubs a favor again by defeating the Cardinals for the second straight night, so the Cubs now lead St. Louis by four games. The Reds, who were also rained out in Boston Tuesday and will play two today, now trail the Cubs by six games.
The Cubs will go for two in a row over the Guardians Wednesday evening at Wrigley Field. Shōta Imanaga will start for the Cubs and Tanner Bibee goes for Cleveland. Game time is 7:05 p.m. CT and TV coverage is via ESPN (full national broadcast, no blackouts).
