Gomes clutch as Cubs rally late against Yankees |
NEW YORK - On what was the final day of the unofficial first half of the MLB season, the Chicago Cubs (42-47) had a chance to win a series at the Bronx against the New York Yankees (49-42) for the first time ever. Remember, this was the only stadium the Cubs were winless at until Friday, so for them to have a chance to win this series is impressive when you think about it.
If the Cubs are content with being buyers at the trade deadline instead of sellers, they need to get hot in a hurry, and this was one of those games they needed to have. What better way to try and claim a series than by sending Professor Kyle Hendricks to the mound? Hendricks was on top of his game early, allowing one run through five innings before unraveling in the sixth. He still gave the Cubs 5 2/3 innings of four-run baseball while striking out five. Despite his outing, the Cubs had a tough time solving Domingo German, who was fresh off his perfect game last time out. Although he was far from perfect, German was still challenging, as he allowed one run in six innings with nine strikeouts. He did his part to put the Yankees in a position to win, only to have the Cubs rally for six runs late, with Yan Gomes coming through with a massive pinch-hit single before adding three additional runs to take the series from the Yankees 7-4. For as good as Hendricks was most of the game, it took him a few batters to settle in, with Gleyber Torres leading off the game with a single and then racing home on the Anthony Rizzo two batters later to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. That would be the only run for quite a while, as both offenses struggled to do much of anything in the early going. Following the first, Hendricks found himself in more trouble in the second as he allowed a pair of singles before pitching out of that jam. Two more singles from the Yankees in the third had Cubs fans concerned, as Hendricks was getting hit harder than in any of his previous starts this season. With the score 1-0 in the fifth and the Cubs only putting one above the minimum to the plate, Seiya Suzuki changed all that as he led the fifth inning off with a homer to tie things up 1-1. Seiya Suzuki - Chicago Cubs (7)
That was a much-needed homer from Suzuki, as he was stuck in a long homerless drought. German managed to finish that inning without further damage and then pitched a scoreless sixth to give the Yankees another great start and put them in a position to win. The same could be said about Hendricks up to this point, but he started to unravel in the sixth, which was not good for the Cubs. What started with a one-out single from Billy McKinnie quickly turned into a 3-1 Yankees lead as Anthony Volpe took Hendricks deep for the two-run shot. The Yankees weren't done playing long ball as Kyle Higashioka followed Volpe with a homer of his own as the Yankees went back to back to extend the lead to 4-1. Hendricks was removed shortly after, with Julian Merryweather coming in to finish the sixth. Once the seventh inning rolled around, you could see a sense of relief from the Cubs offense as they wanted to see anyone other than German on the mound. German walked Ian Happ to start the seventh and then was removed in favor of Ian Hamilton. That was the move the Cubs needed, with Cody Bellinger delivering a one-out single to put a pair of runners on base before an error allowed Christopher Morel to reach base and load the bases with one out. Tommy Kahle was summoned from the pen after that error and immediately got Jared Young to ground out, although a run did score on the play. Facing a 4-2 deficit and a pair of runners in scoring position, Gomes came through with the game's biggest at-bat as his pinch-hit single brought the game back to even for what was arguably his biggest hit of the season. That inning shifted the momentum of the game entirely in the Cub's favor as Merryweather worked around a pair of seventh-inning walks to keep the game tied and put things in the hands of the Cub's offense again. Looking to add on, Mike Tauchman started the eighth with a single before walks to Nico Hoerner, and Happ loaded the bases with no outs. Looking for a massive hit to kickstart his second half, Suzuki came through, but it wasn't via a hit as he delivered a sacrifice fly to push across what would be the game-winning run 5-4. The Cubs pushed another run across on the Clay Holmes wild pitch as they stormed back to take a 6-4 lead late with their best arms slated to finish things off. Following a brief rain delay, it was up to Michael Fulmer to keep things where they were as he worked around a two-out single from Higashioka to get the job done. Tucker Barnhardt would come through in the ninth as he gave the Cubs another massive insurance run with an RBI double to stretch the lead to 7-4. Already with six unanswered runs and only three outs to go, Andy Green went with Adbert Alzolay to close things out. Despite the team not having an official closer, I think we can safely say that Alzolay is the closer going forward, as he should be. The right-hander has been dominant as of late and continued that on Sunday as he retired the side in order to pick up his seventh save and gave the Cubs a massive series win. Chicago was outhit by the Yankees 11-6, but they made those hits count as nearly every one of them pushed home a run. The Cubs will now have four days off to enjoy the All-Star break before setting their sights on a crucial second half. A comeback win for the Cubbies to close out the first half. @Cubs @WatchMarquee pic.twitter.com/KBAzGuf5aQ
Ending the first half with a W! pic.twitter.com/cIGz7N7u84
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