Amaya leads Cubs to series win over Tigers |
CHICAGO - That is two down and roughly nine more to go, as in two series wins down for the Chicago Cubs (63-65) and nine more to go. For this team to be right in the playoff mix in the end, they need to win at least nine of their final 13 series of the season and 11 of their final 15. They have gotten off to a good start with a pair of series wins at Wrigley Field this week, with this one coming against the Detroit Tigers (62-66).
It has been a long time since Justin Steele looked like the Cy Young contender he was in 2023, but Thursday was one of those starts that reminded the Cubs how good he can be when he is on. Steele pitched into the seventh inning for just the fourth time this season, and after allowing two runs and striking out 10, this was by far his best start of the season. Pair that with the suddenly red-hot Miguel Amaya and his career-high five RBIs; it was the Cubs taking care of business 10-2 to claim another series win. For most of the season, the Cubs have gotten next to nothing production-wise from the catcher position, but after making a small swing change in early July, Amaya looks like a completely different player. You have seen those changes magnified since the start of August, but with three hits and a career-high five RBIs, his bat led the Cubs to a victory. For the third time this week, the Tigers elected to go with a bullpen game, which has to be puzzling for most of their fans. Today was more of a traditional bullpen game where Tyler Holton got the start and went one inning before giving way to Kenta Maeda. The former Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Dodgers starter has had a rough season thus far, and that continued on Thursday as he was tagged with six earned runs in five innings of work. Most of that damage came in one inning as the Cubs raced out to a massive lead in the second. Sparked by a leadoff single from Seiya Suzuki, the Cubs tried to single the Tigers to death as Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson added a pair of singles to load the bases with no outs. In danger of letting this opportunity go to waste, one swing of the bat from Amaya changed the game as he connected for the Grand Slam to put the Cubs in front 4-0. That homer proved to be the game-winner as the Cubs never looked back St.eele recovered from a leadoff single to start the game before settling in to retire 10 straight. Throw in an RBI fielder's choice from Hoerner in the third to push the lead to 5-0 and a Cody Bellinger single in the fourth, it was the Cubs pushing their lead to 6-0 and the Tigers searching for answers. Those answers were nowhere to be found with Steele on the mound as the Colt Keith fourth-inning single was just their second hit of the game before Steele answered with four consecutive strikeouts, with three of them coming in the fifth. The only blemish on his line came in his final inning of work, as it took seven innings for the Tigers to break through. Keith played a role in that by picking up a one-out single for his second hit of the game before coming in to score on the Spencer Torkelson homer to make this a 6-2 game. Torkelson has had a terrible season this year, but his bat started to show signs of life this week, which could be a sign of things to come the rest of the way. Steele closed out his outing by striking out the final two men he faced, as this was the start the Cubs have been waiting for. Despite a fast start to the game offensively, the Cubs offense went quiet for most of the game before coming to life against Joey Wentz in the seventh. Ironically, Wentz was the one who finished the game on Wednesday, but it was the Cubs who put together better at-bats this time around. Backed by a two-out Michael Busch walk to extend the inning, it was the Cubs who were mounting a two-out rally as Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson followed with a pair of singles to make this a 7-2 game. Following a double steal to move both runners in scoring position, it was the bottom of the Cubs order continuing to do the damage with Pete Crow-Armstrong clearing the bases with his RBI double while another Amaya single pushed the Cubs lead to 10-2 and closed out a second four-run inning for the offense. Those were the final runs of the game for either side as Ethan Roberts and Jack Neely came in to finish things off as Neely picked up his first two career strikeouts in the ninth inning. The win keeps the Cubs just two games under .500, and they continue to play at a pace that will keep them in the race for the rest of the way. Chicago had 13 hits in the win, with Amaya leading the offense with three hits and five RBIs. Hoerner, Swanson, and Bellinger joined him as the Cubs had four players with multiple hits in the win. The Cubs also saw Isaac Paredes as the only player without a hit as his struggles continue since joining the Cubs. Chicago will now head out East to take on the Pittsburgh Pirates as they continue to maneuver through a more manageable schedule. “That’s why Justin’s so good … there’s no secrets, they just beat you.”
Craig Counsell on Justin Steele. pic.twitter.com/IsgYiEby43
