Wisdom's grand slam powers Cubs past Royals |
KANSAS CITY — There hasn't been much to get excited about regarding Jed Hoyer and a lot of the moves he has made, but Shota Imanaga is the one move that will go down as the steal of the offseason. With the Chicago Cubs (50-56) going 15-4 in his starts this season, there is no question that he has to be considered one of the team MVPs this season, as he has been the definition of a stopper.
Even when he isn't at his best, he tends to give his team a chance to win, which was the case against the Kansas City Royals (57-48) at Kauffman Stadium on Saturday. Imanaga pitched into the sixth inning for the Cubs without walking a batter and striking out three, but with the Royals striking for three runs off him, he was forced to settle for a no-decision. You even had the Cubs trailing 4-3 at one point, as it looked as if this team was about to lose another close game. Then came the biggest hit of the game and arguably the biggest hit of the season for Patrick Wisdom, who entered the game with the bases loaded as a pinch hitter and proceeded to launch a game-winning grand slam to put the Cubs in front 7-4 before they pulled away for the 9-4. A blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while, and when it comes to the Cubs, they have been the blind squirrel trying to find a home run. With the surprising Seth Lugo on the mound, hitting homers wasn't an issue as Lugo was charged with six earned runs in six innings to suffer his fifth loss of the season. For the first time in what seems like forever, the Cubs found a way to grab the lead early on with a pair of runs in the first inning. This offense ranks near the bottom of the league in runs scored during the first inning, so to see Seiya Suzuki connect for a two-run shot after a Michael Busch walk to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead was a pleasant sight for the fans. The lead lasted only a short time, with Hunter Renfroe taking Imanaga deep in the second to pull the Royals within 2-1. As good as Imanaga has been most of the season, he has been prone to give up homers every now and then so to see that in this one wasn't so surprising. The Cubs added a run in the top of third to extend their lead to 3-1 with Pete Crow-Armstrong getting things started with a triple and then coming home on Busch RBI grounder. PCA makin’ plays. 💨 pic.twitter.com/lzH34r9xYN When you look at the Cubs record when they score fewer than four runs, three runs doesn't give the fans much confidence, but when Imanaga is on the hill, that becomes the exception as the Cubs maintained that 3-1 lead until the sixth. That was when the Royals offense started to time Imanaga up and chased him before he could finish the sixth. Maikel Garcia started things off with a leadoff single before sprinting around the bases on the Bobby Witt double to pull within 3-2. Witt was thrown out trying to stretch that double into a triple, which proved huge by the time the inning ended. A Salvador Perez single followed that double, which, before the Freddie Fermin double, had runners on second and third with two down. Looking to escape the jam with the lead intact was Julian Merryweather, who allowed that double to Fermin before serving up a single to Renfroe to push across two more runs to give the Royals their first lead of the game, 4-3. Merryweather hasn't been sharp since returning from the IL, but what can you expect when you miss more than three months due to an injury? Now playing from behind for the first time, the Cubs offense got to business in the seventh with Christopher Morel and Mike Tauchman starting things off with a pair of singles before the Dansby Swanson walk loaded the bases with no outs. Unlike most cases where the Cubs can't buy a hit with runners in scoring position, Wisdom came through with a massive clutch hit as his pinch-hit grand slam put the Cubs in front 7-4 with the bullpen set to close things out. “I don’t think it really hit me until I was rounding second and saw the dugout going nuts,” Wisdom said after the win. “That was pretty special, for sure.” Wisdom was happy that his manager gave him a shot in the big moment. “I think that goes a long way. To put me in that moment, it means a lot to me,” Wisdom said. “And also being able to come through is awesome. But yeah, to have me up there and for him to point at me and say, ‘Hey, you’re hitting,’ … OK, let’s go. It’s a good feeling when your skipper believes in you.” Dinner, party of FOUR 💪 @PatrickWisdom5 pic.twitter.com/r0RHmEEtD3 Whether it be Merryweather, Porter Hodge, or Hector Neris, the Cubs bullpen continues to pitch well. They have the lowest bullpen ERA in baseball since the middle of June. Looking to tack on in the ninth, the Cubs came out strong. Tauchman and Swanson led things off with a pair of singles before moving up 90 feet on another Miguel Amaya bunt. While the Cubs may not have much power, they know how to move from station to station when they get hits, as another single from David Bote kept the line moving and pushed the lead to 8-4. Chicago would tack on another late run on a Nico Hoerner RBI fielder's choice to close out the scoring as they finished off the Royals 9-4 to even the series. Counsell understood that Wisdom stayed ready for his opportunity. “Patrick’s swing was a huge one, for sure,” Counsell said. “It was a big spot in the game. “And Patrick and David (Bote), they’re preparing hard every day. It gets hard when you don’t feel like you get opportunities, but they keep themselves ready and a night like tonight shows.” Saturday Night Dub 🙌
Wisdom: Pinch-hit grand slam
Suzuki: 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB
Crow-Armstrong: 3B, R pic.twitter.com/F5sr7bfp9l
