Chicago Cubs, Game 20: Walk-Off Winners!
Happy Easter, Cubs fans! The Chicago Cubs celebrated the day with their first walk-off win of the season in a game that featured a resurrected version of Tyler Chatwood, strong outings from the bullpen, and timely hitting that helped them Fly The W.
Here is how it went down:
The Pitching
The biggest surprise of the day was the outing they got out of their fill-in starter, Tyler Chatwood. The first at-bat of the game was what Cubs fans have come to expect from him as he yanked the first pitch of the game into the dirt, then missed on his next three to allow a four-pitch walk to the leadoff batter. After that it was fairly smooth sailing, and Chatwood even got several D-Backs hitters to chase pitches out of the zone.
Chatwood finished the day with 77 pitches over 6 IP, and if he had been stretched out a little more earlier in the season (in those first week games that manager Joe Maddon had several opportunities for long-relief work, but chose to pass on) he could have gone at least another inning. Regardless, he recorded his first quality start since April 29 of last year, and finished the game with 2 H, 2 BB, and 3 K.
The setup men also pitched very well today. Kyle Ryan (1/3 IP) and Brandon Kintzler (2/3 IP) combined to pitch a perfect seventh inning, and Steve Cishek (1 IP, 1 K) put up another perfect frame in the eighth. However, Pedro Strop was unable to close the door as he allowed a game-tying home run to Jarrod Dyson in the top of the ninth, but he was bailed out in the bottom half as the Cubs scored the winning run on David Bote’s RBI single.
It was a great day for Cubs pitchers overall as they allowed just 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, and notched 6 K on the day. The pitching has drastically improved over their performance from the beginning of the season, and if they can continue to pitch this well then they could cause some serious changes to the division standings.
The Offense
The Cubs lineup was kept fairly quiet today, as only three players (Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, and David Bote) recorded hits — and each of them had a pair of hits on the day. The only other players to reach base were Kris Bryant (BB) and Willson Contreras (HBP), and aside from that they did not look great at the plate.
One encouraging sign from the Cubs batters in the early part of the season has been their ability to work counts and draw walks (they entered Sunday with 86 walks drawn, fifth-most in MLB), but they only recorded two free passes today from Bryant and Rizzo.
It was a good thing that the Cubs had Baez due to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning for the Cubs, as they could have had to wait a few more innings to get any production given how things went in this one. After his double to start the frame (and his advancement to third on Adam Jones’s fielding error), Contreras got to first on his HBP and allowed Bote an opportunity to drive in the game winning run. He grounded a ball just beyond the reach of second baseman Ketel Marte (who was pulled in on the play), and that gave the Cubs their first walk-off win of the season.
Coming Up
The Cubs will have an off day on Monday as the Los Angeles Dodgers make their way into town for a three-game series.
Tuesday’s opener will have Jose Quintana (3.43 ERA, 1.43 WHIP) face off against Kenta Maeda (3.80 ERA, 1.27 WHIP), and we will get a chance to see if Quintana can continue the hot pace he has been on recently (0 ER over 14 IP).
Wednesday’s matchup will have veteran southpaw Cole Hamels (2.77 ERA, 0.85 WHIP) against young right-hander Walker Buehler (5.40 ERA, 1.20 WHIP). Hamels has also been pitching well recently, as he has posted a 1.29 ERA, 0.62 WHIP, and a 19:0 K:BB over his last three starts.
Thursday is a bit of a mystery right now for the Cubs, as they have not named a starter for the series finale. There is a strong suspicion that Jon Lester will return from the IL in time to make that start, and all recent reports have stated that he is doing well in his rehab work. Meanwhile, the Dodgers do have a starter penciled in for this game, and that is righty Ross Stripling (3.07 ERA, 1.06 WHIP)
