Tucker delivers, exits with injury as Cubs win series against Braves

Kamil Krzaczynski - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 4 hours ago

CHICAGO - There is just something about September baseball at Wrigley Field that feels right. When the Chicago Cubs (80-59) are pushing toward the postseason, the atmosphere is that much better as playoff baseball is nearing its return to the Northside.

Even if the Cubs miss out on the division, given the large hole they have put themselves in, they have one of the most significant advantages in the game with Wrigley Field and the ability to play to the conditions. The Atlanta Braves (62-77) have found that out several times in this series, as they have had several well-struck balls that looked to be trouble off the bat result in routine outs.

That was once again the case tonight as the Cubs built up an early 4-0 lead before holding on for the 4-3. Shota Imanaga has been one of the best pitchers in baseball since August, and it has come after the worst start of his career against the Chicago White Sox. Since that start, Imanaga has been the horse the Cubs have grown to love as he improved to 9-6 on the season with his ERA hovering at 3.15.

Even if he wasn't as sharp as he would like to be, allowing two homers and striking out two batters across six innings, he was able to minimize the damage as the Cubs' bullpen came in to slam the door shut with three more scoreless frames. Facing off against Joey Wentz for the second time this season, the Cubs had a much better approach against the left-hander as he gutted it out through four innings, allowing four runs while punching out eight.

The biggest reason for Wentz's struggles came from a lengthy third inning that saw him throw nearly 40 pitches in what was otherwise a relatively good outing for the left-hander. Even with the Cubs going down quietly in the first two innings, especially in the second when Wentz struck out the side, they were still able to put some good at-bats together, and you had to think that would pay off at some point.

While the Cubs' offense may have gotten off to a slow start, their defense certainly didn't, as Dansby Swanson and Justin Turner put on a clinic throughout the game. Swanson made several Gold Glove plays up the middle, and Turner came away with multiple impressive tags to secure outs.

Sometimes it's not how many innings you can score runs, but instead making the runs count in those innings, as all four of the Cubs' runs came in the third inning. Expected to handle some of the starts against left-handers for the time being, Kevin Alcantara returned to the Cubs for the first time in a year and picked up a one-out single for his second Major League hit.

His single was followed by a Nico Hoerner single as the Cubs had two runners on and one out with the teeth of their order coming up. As you have seen all season, when Tucker hits, the offense goes, and when he doesn't hit, the offense follows. Over the past two weeks, Tucker has started hitting again, and the offense has begun to break out of its slump as a result. He took Wentz deep in the third for a massive three-run shot, putting the Cubs on top for good, 3-0.

It was the first opposite-field homer of the season for Tucker, and that alone is hard to believe. The Cubs weren't finished as Seiya Suzuki worked a walk, followed by a pair of two-out singles from Turner and Ian Happ, as the Happ single pushed home the game-winning run to put the Cubs on top 4-0. That was it when it came to their offense, but given how strong Imanaga looked early, you had to like their chances in this one.

That was until the fourth inning rolled around, as the lengthy break between pitches seemed to take a toll on the left-hander as he struggled to settle back into a rhythm. With Matt Olson leading off the top of the fourth with a triple, the Braves' offense was set up to score as Imanaga gifted them a run with a wild pitch to make this a 4-1 game.

A few pitches later, and it was the Cub killer himself, Ozzie Albies, getting back on track as he took Imanaga deep over the left field fence to cut the Cubs' deficit in half, 4-2. Imanaga has been prone to giving up the long ball in his career, and with Eli White going deep for the Braves' second homer in as many innings, this was suddenly a 4-3 game in the fifth.

However, as he has done on many occasions, most of the homers Imanaga allows come with one or no men on base, which was the case here, as he managed to get through six innings without further damage, keeping the Cubs ahead 4-3.

It was in the seventh when the Cubs' pen took over as Drew Pomeranz and Caleb Thielbar continued their impressive seasons, tossing a pair of scoreless frames to put the Cubs three outs away from securing another series. Then came the ninth, where Daniel Palencia was not only on for the save, but was looking to rebound from a shaky outing in Colorado.

Once again, the hard-throwing right-hander didn't make it easy on himself, allowing a pair of singles to Marcell Ozuna and Ha-Seong Kim as the Braves had both the tying and go-ahead runs on base and two outs. Atlanta wouldn't get any closer as Palencia made the pitch he needed to make and got White to fly out to Pete Crow-Armstrong to end the game as the Cubs secured another series win, 4-3.