Yankees blank Cubs in Rizzo's emotional return |
CHICAGO - Once a Chicago Cub, always a Chicago Cub as one of the cities beloved stars returned to Wrigley Field on Friday. What was expected to be an emotional day, let alone an emotional weekend, long-time Chicago Cubs 72-69 first basemen Anthony Rizzo returned home for the first time since being traded to the New York Yankees 81-60 in July 2021.
Rizzo was the heart and soul of this team for nearly a decade and played a prominant role when it came to winning the World Series and being one of the best individuals in the entire community. As expected, the Cubs did him well as he received an incredible video tribute while also receiving the standing ovation that he deserved. Once all that was out of the way, there was still a game that needed to be played as the next six games are going to be crucial for the Cubs. That all started with a three-game stint against the New York Yankees, who continued to battle for the AL East title. Despite another great pitching effort from Jordan Wicks and the pen, the Cubs offense went completely silent as they were held to just one hit in a 3-0 loss. Making just his second start since returning from the IL, Wicks has had his issues with command and you could see that a little bit in this one. He walked four and struck out four across five innings, but with only three runs allowed, he managed to limit the damage. He gave way to Keegan Thompson and the rest of the pen as they continue to do their job on the back end. Despite another strong showing from Wicks, it was all about Luis Gil on this day, as he was about as good as you can be. Not only did Gil shut the Cubs out through six innings, but he did so allowing just one hit and striking out seven. Gil has had performances like this in the past and with a 3.24 ERA his great season continues. It didn't take the Yankees long to keep the pressure on as Gleyber Torres led the game off with a single before a pair of walks loaded the bases with two outs. Wicks managed to escape that inning without any damage, but pressure on the bases was a theme early on. The Cubs did manage to put a pair of runners on base with a one walk in each of the first two innings, but take that away there wasn't much to get excited about regarding their offense. All three of the Yankees runs came in one inning as their bats came to life in the top half of the third. Once again it was Torres playing a role in that as he led the top half of the third with a walk. He would eventually advance to second on a Juan Soto single before the Aaron Judge double gave the Yankees the lead for good 1-0. Austin Wells followed that double up with an RBI single of his own and just like that the Cubs were trailing 3-0 before Wicks got out of the inning without any further damage. That was the last of the runs for rest of the way as pitching domianted this game most of the way. The lone hit for the Cubs came in the bottom of the fourth as a Cody Bellinger double set the Cubs offense up with their first runner in scoring position. The Cubs were unable to cash in on that opportunity, but they finally managed to get something done against Gil for the first time in the game. Despite their onslaugth of runs in the third inning, the Yankees bats went mostly cold the rest of the way as six consecutive hitters were retired at one point and seven of eight total through six innings. The same can be said about the Cubs and their offense as eight consecutive hitters were retired at one point until a leadoff walk from Bellinger opened up the bottom of the seventh only to have the Cubs let that chance get away. It wasn't until the ninth inning when the Yankees had a chance to tack on more runs and it came against Trey Wingenter who was making his Chicago Cubs debut. After retiring the first two hitters he faced, a pair of singles from Anthony Volpe and Alex Verdugo put the Yankees in a position to put this game out of reach. Wingenter got out of that inning without allowing a run, but with only one hit in the game up to this point, the Cubs had a ton of work to do. Down to their final three outs, the Cubs last hopes hung in the balance of the top of their order as they took their swings against Luke Weaver. This was one of those games where you knew right from the start that this wasn't the Cubs day as Weaver struck out the first two hitters he faced in the ninth before Bellinger worked his second walk of the game to keep the inning alive. Looking to keep the game alive was Isaac Paredes who worked an 11-pitch at bat only to ground out to end the game. Bellinger led the way for the Cubs with two walks and had the lone hit as the Cubs will look to even up the series tomorrow. What Anthony Rizzo means the city of Chicago and the Cubs organization cannot be overstated.⁰⁰Welcome back, Rizz. 💙 pic.twitter.com/5uaSG6XBLv Anthony Rizzo receives a standing ovation ahead of today's Cubs-Yankees game. pic.twitter.com/bHmb8uAcMu Anthony Rizzo's walk-up song 'Intoxicated' plays before his 1st at-bat at Wrigley 👏 pic.twitter.com/BDn4OR3xQy Cubs honored Anthony Rizzo with a tribute video in his first game back at Wrigley: pic.twitter.com/YSqB8LSvZT "Rizz, to an extraordinary level, embraced being a Cub."
Jed Hoyer on Anthony Rizzo. pic.twitter.com/vEMeqsfTLF
