Cubs continue offensive surge to stun Orioles |
CHICAGO - Whatever has gotten into the Chicago Cubs (32-37) offense since returning to Wrigley Field needs to stay there for the remainder of the season. Coming off a three-game sweep of the first-place Pittsburgh Pirates, where the offense racked up 28 runs, the Cubs were looking to make it four straight as they welcomed an excellent Baltimore Orioles (43-26) squad to town.
Kyle Hendricks was back on the bump to make his fifth start of the season and first since tossing a near no-hitter in San Francisco over the weekend. Although Hendricks wasn't as sharp, he still gave the Cubs five good innings of two-run ball while the Cubs offense used a pair of big innings to put the game away for their fourth straight win 10-3. After missing nearly an entire season with a shoulder injury, Hendricks is starting to look like the Hendricks of old, which is a massive boost to this Cubs rotation. He may not be striking out many people, as he finished with one strikeout, but he is throwing strikes and getting guys out, which is all you can ask for. The same can't be said about Cole Irvin, who brought his 7-plus ERA into Chicago to face a red-hot offense. Irvin wasn't terrible as he gave the Orioles four innings of four-strike-out ball, but it was his three home runs allowed that did him in before the Oriole's pen imploded at the worst time. Like Henricks, Irvin got off to a great start as both pitchers allowed one base runner through the first two innings. Tied at zero in the bottom of the third, the Cubs bats came to life as they used the long ball to make some noise. Miguel Amaya started things off with his second homer of the season as the Cubs grabbed a 1-0 lead and never looked back. Later in the inning, it was Dansby Swanson and Christopher Morel going back to back as the Cubs launched three solo bombs to take a 3-0 lead. Dansby Swanson - Chicago Cubs (7) pic.twitter.com/9wyJet9afk Christopher Morel - Chicago Cubs (12) pic.twitter.com/wJLcZHdXA2 Trailing for the first time in the ball game, the Orioles used a little two-out magic in the fourth to push across a run, with Ryan O'Hearn coming through with a double and then trotting home on the Austin Hays single to make things 3-1. Baltimore continued to battle back in the second, with Ramon Urias picking up a one-out single and then coming home to score Jorge Mateo's double to make things 3-2. Hendricks would escape the fifth without further damage before handing things over to the pen with the lead. Not only have the Orioles been impressive on offense this season, but their bullpen has been one of the best in the game, which the Cubs had to face in the bottom of the fifth. Mike Baumann was the first man up for Brandon Hyde and worked around a mini jam to keep things close. That was followed by a good inning from Micahel Fulmer, who recovered after allowing an Anthony Santander leadoff double to keep the Cubs in front. Knowing how good the back of the Orioles pen is, the Cubs knew they would need a few more runs to feel comfortable, and they delivered more than just a few in the sixth. Mike Tauchman entered the game for Yan Gomes and immediately led the inning off with a walk. That was followed by a Trey Mancini walk as the former Oriole reached base four times with two walks and two doubles. David Ross continued to play his cards later in the inning, with the Red-Hot Ian Happ coming in to pinch hit for Patrick Wisdom and immediately coming through with a two-run single to push the lead to 5-2. Ian Happ has 10 RBI in his last 4 games 💪 pic.twitter.com/ISkwXfCo09 Happ is hitting near .500 on this homestand and has driven in 10 runs in four games. An Amaya walk and sacrifice bunt from Nick Madrigal set the offense up for more, with Hoerner ripping an RBI single the opposite way to make things 7-2. With two on and no outs, it was time for Morel to come through once again, as his third hit of the game happened to be an RBI double producing two more runs to extend the lead to 8-2. His double was followed by the Seiya Suzuki single as the Cubs scored six times in the sixth inning to break the game wide open 9-2. Crooked innings have been very common during this homestand, and ironically it has been the fifth or sixth inning that has been the big inning more often than not. A scoreless frame from Anthony Kay in the top half of the seventh set things up for the Cubs offense again, with Mancini reaching base for a fourth time with his leadoff double. Happ kept the line moving with a walk, but after the next two hitters were retired, the Cubs were on the verge of wasting another great chance. Unlike most of the season where they have failed to deliver in the clutch, that hasn't been the case on this homestand as Hoerner legged out an infield single to bring home the 10th run for the Cubs as they opened a 10-2 lead. Making his first appearance in nearly a week, Javier Assad was called on to finish things off and provided the Cubs with mixed reviews. While his work in the ninth inning was impressive, the eighth inning was concerning as Assad allowed three singles in that frame, including another RBI knock to Hays, who made it 10-3. Assad hasn't been himself after an impressive spring, and World Baseball Classic, and the Cubs are searching for answers to get him back on track. This was one of those outings where things didn't matter as the Cubs made it four straight and closed the lead in the division down to three. With 12 hits, there was plenty of offense to go around, but it was Morel leading the way with three hits and three RBIs. Hoerner and Mancini added two hits, with Hoerner and Happ driving in two. The Cubs will be back at Wrigley Field tomorrow as right-hander Kyle Gibson will face off against Justin Steele at 1:20.
