by Boutros Boutros Ghali
Yes, the Cubs lost three straight series decisions recently, but they got it together against the D-Bags and showed that they still know how to sweep. In a dominant three games, the Cubs swept Arizona and even gained a little ground in the division.
Kyle Hendricks was on the mound and as we all know, he gives the Cubs a good chance to stay in the game for five innings and not a ton more. Well, he played to his reputation again and pitched 5 innings with 4 Ks, 3 hits, 2 walks, and one run to round out the countdown.
The only run the Professor allowed was a one out double by our old friend Beef Castle, Wellington Castillo. He hit a double deep into the left field corner to Coghlan. Coghlan got up against the wall and made the throw back to the field as he was falling down. Peralta was able to get to the plate from first base on the hit.
Hendricks got a strikeout and a groundout to strand Castillo at second base and limit the damage in the inning. In the fifth inning, the D-Bags were on base again when Hendricks caught Ender's Game in a rundown between second and first. Rizzo made the tag for the third out.
The Handsome Youngsters were facing off against Rubby Dub La Rosa and the pitcher was cleaning up for four innings of no hit ball. The only batter to even reach base in the first four innings was Miguel Montero on a walk.
The bubbles popped in the fifth inning when the smiling slugger stepped to the plate. Kris Bryant was one RBI away from tying Billy Williams and Geo Soto for the Cubs rookie record.
Bryant tied it on the longest homerun in the MLB this year. He hit a 495 foot home run high off the video board in left field for his 23rd homer of the year and 86th RBI.
Bryant is now tied with Soto and Williams for RBI and only two home runs short of Williams' rookie record. Both Williams and Soto won the Rookie of the Year and it looks like Bryant could join them.
With Hendricks now off the hook for the loss, the Handsome Youngsters went to work trying to get him a win. They were able to load the bases with a Montero single, a Baez single, and a Russell single, but Fowler and Jackson got fanned at the plate to keep the game tied going into the sixth inning.
The D-Bags could have had a chance in this game, but they kept failing to stay safe on the basepaths. I already told you about Inciarte getting picked off in the rundown, but they also caught Jackson Pollock stealing in the first, had an unassisted lineout/tagout double play in the second inning, and in the sixth inning, Goldschlager hit a line drive to Jackson in right field who was able to double up Pollock running off of first base. The Cubs were on their game catching all of Arizona's running mistakes.
Rubby Dub La Rosa was still out there in the bottom of the sixth inning even though the Cubs had started to figure him out in the fifth. He saw two batters with Coghlan reaching on a single and Rizzo taking the walk. The D-Bags replaced Rubby with Burgos.
Burgos was bad. He had a wild pitch that moved both runners into scoring position for Kris Bryant, then he walked Bryant. The D-Bags hooked Burgos and brought in Reynolds. Reynolds did not work out so well either.
With the bases loaded, Reynolds was facing former Diamondback, Miggy Balls who has opposite field power. Montero launched a ball high and deep into the left field bleachers for a grand slam. The Cubs now led 5-1 and the Wrigley Field Faithful stayed on their feet until the catcher returned for a curtain call. Reynolds was done for the day.
Silvino Bracho entered to pitch for the Bag of Ds and actually had a little success with one out. Then he gave up a homer to pinch hitter Jonathan Herrera for the fifth run of the inning. Bracho did not get pulled because the D-Bags were running out of pitchers. With Russell up to bat and no fans standing, Jonathan Herrera took a curtain call much to the amusement of Len and JD on the broadcast.
The Cubs scored five in the inning and led 6-1 going to the seventh. Grimm was up for the win and Leprechaun Rodney was called on to pitch. It looked like Rodney might let Arizona back in the game with a single and a walk to start the inning, but Chris Bosio went out for one of his usual talks. "Get your crap together, Dumbass!" and then he went back to the dugout before everyone noticed he was sweating through his mumu.
Rodney did indeed get his crap together and got the next three guys out. Trevor Cahill, another new reliever, took Rodney's place in the 8th inning and worked a 1-2-3 side.
The Cubs kept Cahill in for the ninth inning and all of a sudden things got interesting. Wellington Castillo got the second run of the game for the D-Bags with a solo shot to center field. Cahill got two outs, but after he walked Owings, Maddon pulled him for Strop.
Strop's not a fan of having runners on base, so he allowed Nick Ahmed to homer off of him and clear the bases. It was now 6-4 in favor of the Cubs and Cubes fans were starting to fidgit. There was no need as the three runs were simply a fake rally and Strop locked it down by striking out Mark Paul Gosselin.
That's your Reckless Recap. Go Cubs!
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