By Boutros Boutros Ghali
The game got rained out on Thursday, so the Cubs and Philistines played a twin bill on Friday for the make up.
Game 1: Cubs 5/Phillies 1
Groundskeeper Willie got the ball in the first game and he continued to dominate. Arrieta earned his 19th win on the season (MLB lead), 8th straight win dating back to July 25th, and lowered his ERA to 1.99 for the season.
Excellent Groundskeeper Willie picture courtesy of @dannielsen00.
The game actually looked like it might get away from Arrieta as the Handsome Youngsters failed to even put up their normal two runs for the ace of the staff. The Phils put up an early run to take the lead.
In the second inning, Arrieta made his one real mistake of the game with a slider to Aaron Altherr that the right fielder launched into the empty center field seats. Phils had a 1 run lead, but Arrieta locked it down and gave up nothing more for the rest of the game.
The Handsome Youngsters were quiet early against Adam Morgan. The Phillies pitcher did not allow a run until the fifth inning.
Dexter Fowler set the table with a two out single. Then Action Jackson doubled to drive The Fowl One in from first base. Bryant followed with a double of his own to bring Jackson across the plate too. The Cubs had the lead 2-1.
The Cubs were not done and in the sixth inning they kept the hits coming. The OY, Castro, singled to start the inning. Then Baez (playing 3rd base) also singled to put two on and no outs. The Phils pulled Morgan and Neris was called on to hold the Cubs at 2. It did not work.
Ross struck out, but Neris walked Arrieta to load the bases. Addison Hustle went to the plate and doubled in two more runs to put the Cubs up 4-1.
In the seventh inning Castro really liked a pitch from Neris and he went yard to left field. The home run lifted the Cubs to 5 runs for the game and they never looked back. It was the Cubs 81st win of the season.
Game 2: Cubs 7/Phils 3
Kyle Hendricks was on the bump for game two and everyone was feeling good because Arrieta's 8 innings had the bullpen fresh and ready to go. Hendricks looked good but it was the Schwarber show early on that got the Cubs out up and running.
In the first inning, Kyle Schwarber went to bat with one out and jumped all over the first pitch he saw. Alec Asher missed with a fastball up in the zone and Schwarbear launched the ball 447 feet over the fence in center field.
In the second inning, the Schwarbeast got a slider and he blasted the second pitch he saw over the left field fence. Two pitches, two home runs, and three RBIs for the rookie. While he looked great at the plate, he gave everyone a laugh as he lost it rounding first base. Cubs lead 3-0.
The Phils finally got on the board against Hendricks in the fourth inning with a groundout RBI, but the Cubs responded quickly with 3 runs to kill the momentum.
In his third at bat, Schwarber walked, which was a small victory after he had already smacked two homers. With Schwarber on first, Cobra Coghlan popped a double off the base of the left field wall and Schwarber was able to navigate all the bases without falling down and the Cubs had a 4-1 lead.
Kris Bryant made sure everyone remembered that he is the eventual Rookie of the Year with a two run shot deep into the ivy behind center field. It was a two run shot and the Cubs lead was 6-1. Asher finished out the inning, but the young pitcher was done for the night.
Hendricks gave up another run in the fifth inning, but with a good lead, Maddon kept the hook below deck and let the pitcher work a scoreless sixth inning as well.
In the seventh inning, the Cubs scored again. Anthony Rizzo ripped a double off of the Oral Roberts and Kris Bryant stepped in to hit and rang up his 3rd RBI of the game tying what Schwarber did earlier in the game.
It was Bryant's 90th RBI of the season and during these two games he surpassed the old mark for a Cubs rookie of 86, set by Billy Williams and Geovany Soto, and has commenced to destroying it. He may be the first Cubs rookie to break the 100 mark with RBIs in his first season.
Kyle Schwarber's home runs were his 14th and 15th and the only person to reach the 15th homer quicker than he did was Albert Pujols. So, he's got that going for him.
Hendricks took the mound again in the 7th inning. He got two outs, but he also gave up a double and a single to put the third Philly run across. Captain Hook loves to pull a pitcher with two outs and Hendricks was done after 6.2.
Maddon believes in putting a guy right back up on the horse and Pedro Strop got the call. Strop's dead relatives were cringing, but he got Cody Asche, not Alec Asher, to pop out for the third out of the inning.
Travis Wood got some work in the 8th inning and hopefully some renewed confidence as well. He struck out two and got a pop out to send the Cubs to the 9th with 7-3 lead.
Despite a couple of singles, the Handsome Youngsters were not able to get on the board again in the 9th. Maddon called on Leprechaun Rodney to finish out the game. There was no magic for the Leprechaun on Friday.
Rodney hit Andy White with a pitch to start the inning. Then he gave up a single to Francoeur and TJ Hooker brought the long hook of the law out. Maddon was annoyed that he had to use Rondon, but it was the right call as the Cubs closer got two strikeouts and a groundout to nail down the double header sweep.
Once again, a beautiful picture modified to fit my specific psychosis by @danielsen00 on Twitter.
Cubs win their 82nd game of the season! It's been a magical year and it could get even more magical as the Pirates are only 2 games ahead in the wildcard and depending on whether the Reds can beat the Cardinals in their suspended game, the Cubs could be within 5.5 of the Satanic Fowl. (I'm still holding out that the Cubs can chase the dirty birds down for the division. )
That's the Reckless Recap. Go Cubs