CI Recap (5/18/17) – Cubs Bring Out Their Brooms

The Cubs swept the Reds with a 9-5 victory at Wrigley.

This game was over in the 1st inning after the home team scored five runs. The first came on a bases-loaded walk to Addison Russell. Then came Javier Baez, who absolutely crushed a ball to the back of the bleachers for a grand slam. That ball was a no-doubter and Javy watched it go in admiration before dropping his bat and trotting around the bases.

In the 4th inning, Kris Bryant took the first pitch he saw and drilled it into the bleachers for his eighth home run of the season, putting the Cubs up 6-0.

Then in the 5th, the Cubs tacked on three more on run-scoring hits from Baez and Ben Zobrist, then a long sacrifice fly by Jon Lester. The ball Lester hit looked like it’d be a three-run home run off the bat, but it died at the warning track. This is Lester’s second straight start in which a ball he hit almost got out of the yard. At the end of five innings, the Cubs were shutting out the Reds, 9-0.

The Reds were fairly quiet until the top of the 7th, when they scored four runs. Three consecutive singles by Jose Peraza, Tucker Barnhart, and former Cub Arismendy Alcantara loaded the bases with no outs against Lester.

Joe Maddon went to his pen and brought out Hector Rondon, who allowed all three inherited runners to score before giving up a run of his own. Thanks to the huge cushion of runs the Cubs put together, they still held a comfortable 9-4 lead despite the rally.

It didn’t quite end there, though, as the Reds put together another huge scoring threat in the top of the 9th after loading the bases with no outs against Brian Duensing. Koji Uehara came in to tried to shut the door, but he gave up a sacrifice fly to Adam Duvall to make it a 9-5 game. He was then able to strike out the next two batters to get the save and secure the sweep.

Stats That Matter

• Javier Baez had five RBI on three hits today: two singles and a grand slam.
• Ian Happ picked up two more hits today. He is really making a name for himself as a major league ballplayer.

Bottom Line

The Cubs are hitting and they’re doing it consistently. They had 13, 6, and 9 hits respectively in this three-game series against the Reds. With timely hitting and some longballs, this Cubs team is heating up.

On Deck

The Brewers come to town for a weekend series. Paolo Espino makes his MLB debut against the Cubs and Eddie Butler, who pitched well in his first start for the Cubs. The game can be watched on CSN and heard on 670 The Score at 1:20 p.m.