Cubs continue strong play with series win over Twins |
CHICAGO—There are no moral victories in sports, but if there were a moral victory, the Chicago Cubs (57-60) are certainly racking up the moral victories right now. When you look at how this season has gone for the Cubs, there is no way they were as bad as their 22-39 mid-season funk, and they may not be as good as their 17-9 start.
They very well could be somewhere in between, but essentially, being 25 games above .500 in those stretches, there is a large window to figure out where this team is. If anything, the Cubs are, at the very least, making up some of the ground they have lost, but at the same time, they put themselves in this position, and now they need to find a way out of it. Looking to secure a massive series win against the Minnesota Twins (63-50) at Wrigley Field, the Cubs offense continued to deliver as they came through against the Twins bullpen to pick up the 8-2 win. At this point in the season, Javier Assad is nothing more than an extended opener. He has those starts where he barely can make it through three innings, but now and then, you may see him go five or six. Wednesday was one of those starts that found him landing in the middle. He gave the Cubs four innings of two-run ball and picked up another no-decision. With the Cubs going up against Joe Ryan, having your starter last four innings typically isn't a good thing, but with Ryan only giving the Twins two innings, this essentially became a bullpen game. As has been the case in most of his starts, Assad had to pitch around some instant traffic. A one-out walk to Trevor Larnach set the Twins' offense up before the Matt Wallner double gave the Twins a 1-0 lead in the first. Assad did a great job of limiting the damage, but with Ryan on the mound, the Cubs couldn't afford to fall behind by too much. Leave it to Michael Busch to make sure that didn't happen as he connected for his 16 homer of the season, and just like that, this was a 1-1 game. BUH-BYE pic.twitter.com/mLnAbBAQnl As was the case in the first inning, Assad was forced to pitch around some second-inning traffic as a pair of singles set the Twins offense up before an error moved them both into scoring position. Once again, Assad managed to limit what could've been a big inning, but with Brooks Lee picking up an RBI groundout, the Twins retook the lead 2-1. Those would be the only runs of the game for the Twins, as the Cubs bullpen did a phenomenal job of holding one of the game's best offenses in check while the offense went to work to score seven unanswered runs. Five of those runs came in the third and fourth innings, with three of them crossing home in the third. Pete Crow-Armstrong started the third inning with a leadoff single before a trio of walks brought home the tying run, with Seiya Suzuki delivering the game-tying bases-loaded walk. That was followed by an Isaac Paredes sacrifice fly to give the Cubs a 3-2 lead before a wild pitch extended their lead to 4-2. The Cubs worked two more walks to load the bases again, but were unable to cash in any additional runs. Runs! Runs! Runs! pic.twitter.com/5usaCQZkKy Some would consider that a missed opportunity, but as long as you can add on runs, that opportunity can be forgiven. That opportunity presented itself again in the bottom of the fourth, as Christian Bethancourt started things off with a one-out double before trotting home on an Ian Happ long ball to push the Cubs' lead to 6-2. 18th HR this season for @ihapp_1! pic.twitter.com/2pmRgnnt6U Ian Happ gave this fan a great reason to finish his drink 🍻@ihapp_1 pic.twitter.com/t8X1mUwLIg For Happ, this was a much-needed game, as he has been stuck in a slump. Those were the final runs of the game until late as the Cubs bullpen took over for Assad in the fifth and continued to impress. The same can be said about the Twins once they got through their two rough innings, as they did a great job of limiting the traffic on the bases. Looking to deliver the knockout blow, the bottom of the Cubs order delivered as the Dansby Swanson single pushed the lead to 7-2 with Bethancourt closing things out with an RBI double to lift the Cubs to the 8-2 win. Make it 8, boys. 👏 pic.twitter.com/doJFL62VO0 The Cubs scored eight hits in the win, with Busch and Bethancourt each scoring two. The Cubs will enjoy an off day on Thursday before closing out part two of the Cross-town Cup. The @Cubs go 5-2 on the homestand 👏 pic.twitter.com/pniquRdj7V GGs in the chat 🤝 Michael Busch this season 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Vo3QGU9Opq “I think we’re playing good baseball and you play good baseball you should win series.”
Busch: 2-for-3, HR, 2 R, BB
Happ: HR. 2 R, 2 RBI, SB
Cubs ‘pen: 5 IP, 6 K, 0 R pic.twitter.com/OeWYfrOaJV
Craig Counsell on winning the series against the Twins. pic.twitter.com/Hzoqhaq05M
