Cubs make history in offensive fireworks against Reds |
CHICAGO - Then, there were three in three games separating the Chicago Cubs (55-53) from the first-place Cincinnati Reds (59-51) as they continued to play great baseball. A big reason for their sudden surge has been an offensive onslaught that has been one of the best in baseball for the better part of a month.
After putting up 20 runs on Tuesday, the Cubs were back in front of a packed Wrigley Field crowd, where they continued to mash the baseball. Despite falling behind 5-2 early, the Cubs belted five more homers giving them 12 homers in two days to pick up another dominating 16-6 win. That makes 36 runs in two games, the highest output in a two-day stretch since 1900, while the 12 homers are the most in a two-game span since 1897. While some of you may be surprised with how good this offense has been, when you look at it, you shouldn't be, as they have scored 142 runs since the all-star break, which is 40 runs better than any other team. Even with Drew Smyly struggling in another start, the Cubs offense has been so good they have overcome some of his rough outings. After using an opener in each of his past few starts, Smyly was given a chance to start again, and things didn't go well. Yes, he struck out seven and didn't walk a batter, but one thing this Reds team does exceptionally well is make contact pitchers pay for their mistakes. Smyly is a contact pitcher, and the Reds jumped on him early as they chased him after just 4 2/3 as he allowed five runs. Two of those runs came in the first after Kevin Newman led off the game with a single and came home to score on the Spencer Steer homer to make things 2-0. A Joey Votto homer followed that in the second, as it was all Reds early, 3-0. With Smyly struggling out of the gate, the Cubs knew they had to be aggressive if they wanted to get to Brandon Williamson and that they were as he, too, pitched into the fifth but was unable to finish things. Williamson got off to a good start tossing a pair of scoreless frames to open things up before the Jeimer Candelario double opened the bottom half of the third. For Candelario, that makes eight hits in his first two games with the Cubs which is the most in MLB history for a player with a new team. “I feel good because we’re winning,” Candelario said after the win. “I feel good. You always feel good when you’re in position to help your team win. That’s on my mind right now. I want to contribute. I want to come here and fit in with the guys and keep going.” Williamson was nearly able to work around that double until Christopher Morel unloaded for the first of five Cubs homers to pull the Cubs within 3-2. Christopher Morel - Chicago Cubs (17)
Cincinnati continued to keep the pressure on Smyly in the fourth as a one-out hit from Christian Encarnacion-Strand was followed by Votto's second homer of the night, and just like that, the Reds built up their three-run lead again, 5-2. Given the weather conditions, the Cubs continued to use that to their advantage as Dansby Swanson picked up his third homer in two days to pull the Cubs within 5-3 in the fourth. Dansby Swanson - Chicago Cubs (16) pic.twitter.com/DEToaLbSh4
One inning later, the offense got back in the box as Candelario started things off with a walk before advancing to second on a Nico Hoerner single. A Morel double followed that single to make things 5-4 before Cody Bellinger tied things up with an RBI groundout, as this was now a battle of the bullpens. When it comes down to it, the Cubs bullpen has been far superior to the Reds this season, and they are in a much better shape in terms of stamina-wise, with Michael Fulmer giving them better than an inning of work to keep things close. That helped set things up for the Cubs biggest inning of the night as they pushed across six runs in their half of the sixth to take a 10-5 lead. An Ian Happ walk started that massive inning, with Yan Gomes giving the Cubs the lead with a double. With Lucas Sims entering the game in place of Buck Farmer, Seiya Suzuki kept the line moving as his RBI single made things 7-5, but that was only the beginning for this offense. His single was followed by one from Candelario before the Mike Tauchman double extended the lead to 8-5. A costly error later in the frame pushed across two more runs as the Cubs opened up a 10-5 lead. For the most part, the Cubs bullpen was outstanding, but Mark Leiter Jr allowed a rare homer in the seventh as TJ Friedl took him deep to make things 10-6. That would be it for the Reds offensively, as the Cub's offense continued to do plenty of damage against the first-place Reds. With a massive lead, Happ played longball to open the seventh, as that was one of his two late-game homers. Candelario would add another one-out single to reach base again before racing home on Tauchman's second RBI double in as many at-bats to make things 12-6. That double was followed by a series of errors from the Reds that allowed two more runs to score as Cincinnati fell apart at the wrong time. The Cubs would close out the scoring in the bottom of the eighth on solo shots by Happ and Suzuki before the new guy Jose Cuas worked a scoreless ninth to give the Cubs another dominating win. “I think the more impressive part is getting down early and fighting back,” Happ said after the game. “It’s not just the homers. It’s guys going out there, getting on base, the singles that lead to getting pitchers deep into pitch counts and being able to take advantage.” Seiya Suzuki - Chicago Cubs (9)
“It's fun to win,” Happ said. “Winning is what we're all here to do, and when you're winning, it's a lot more fun than the opposite. I think a lot of guys in this room have been in that spot in different places, some of us here. “I think for the guys that were here last year, the encouraging thing was there still were the crowds. The crowds were still there. They were still excited when we would win ballgames. To be able to be in this position with this momentum for the crowd in August, that's the exciting part.” Any time you score 36 runs in two games with 12 homers, something is going right offensively, and this team has been pounding the baseball for the better part of three weeks. Apart from Patrick Wisdom, every player had at least one hit, with Candelario leading the way with four. Morel, Happ, Suzuki, and Tauchman added two-hit nights for the Cubs as they will look for the series win on Thursday and try to pull within two games of first.
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