Cubs blast 3 massive homers in rain-soaked win |
The Chicago Cubs defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 6-2 in front of 38,941 patrons on a rain-soaked Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field.
Lester gave up six hits and five runs in 2 2/3 innings in a loss to the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday but came back strong today with 6 1/3 innings of work giving up six hits, two runs including one unearned run, seven strikeouts and two walks. He was awarded a strong ovation by the crowd when he exited as his ERA is a stellar 2.34 on the season. However, this game was all about the prodigious homers hit by the Cubs. Jorge Soler had an RBI single on a ground ball to left field that scored Ben Zobrist in the first inning to put the Cubs up 1-0. He continued his impressive play with a 461-foot solo homer off of the video board in left field in the fourth inning to put the Cubs up 2-0. The homer was the longest by a Cubs player this year by twenty feet, tied for third longest in the majors and it had an exit velocity of 108.3 MPH. The offensive fireworks didn't burn out in the fourth inning as David Ross launched a three-run bomb near the Nuveen sign in left field that bounced onto Waveland Avenue in the fourth inning to put the Cubs up 5-1. It was his 100th homer of his career that went 417 feet and had an exit velocity of 106 MPH. Cubs fans cheered Ross during his home run curtain call. "We gonna celebrate a little bit," Ross said postgame about his bucket list home run. Dexter Fowler followed Ross' blast with a two-out triple to right field in the fourth inning but did not score. Kris Bryant crushed a solo bomb to left field that landed on Waveland Avenue in the fifth inning to put the Cubs up 6-1. It was his 11th homer of the season, and it had the second highest launch angle this season at 43.9 degrees and an exit velocity of 109.3 MPH. Over the last 100 years, no Cubs player has hit more home runs within their first 200 games than Kris Bryant according to ESPN Stats. Pedro Strop had thrown one total pitch before the rain came down in buckets in the top of the seventh inning. The grounds crew hurriedly put the 'Reynold's wrap' tarp on the field for the 56-minute rain delay. Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo did not get the start on Friday afternoon against lefty Adam Morgan as he was batting .149 vs. lefties this season. Rizzo came into the game in the 8th inning as a defensive sub for Kris Bryant at first base. The tarp was rolled out for the second time for a 37-minute rain delay as the heavy rain reappeared in the top of the ninth inning. Closer Hector Rondon pitched the ninth inning to finally end the game. Cubs righty Kyle Hendricks (2-4, 3.30 ERA) will face off against righty Vince Velasquez (5-1, 2.75 ERA) on Saturday afternoon at 1:20 p.m. CT.
