Photo courtesy of Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
The below recap is written by BP-Wrigleyville contributor Leo Martinic
Top Play (WPA): A back and forth game led to a 6-6 tie in the top of the ninth inning. After Dexter Fowler’s sharp single and a Yasmany Tomas error on a hard hit Kris Bryant groundball, Anthony Rizzo got into all of one (.383) and sent it deep into the right-center patio to bump the Cubs to a 9-6 lead. The game featured four lead changes, primarily charged by the teams trading three-run doubles in the fifth inning off the bats of Rizzo and David Peralta.
Bottom Play (WPA): After a terrific at-bat by Soler that produced a frozen rope of a double off the right-center field wall to tie the game at 6-6 and a Chris Coghlan walk, Junior Lake stepped to the plate with men on first and second base. After runners moved up on a wild pitch, Lake had an opportunity to crack the game open for the Cubs. He worked the count full but waived at a terrific changeup low and away (-.119). What Lake did afterward is what really caught my attention…
http://i.imgur.com/BZkOhWQ.webm
Savage.
Key Moment: With the Cubs down 6-4 in the eighth inning and having already logged two outs along with a scuffling Starlin Castro at the plate, the prospects of a victory appeared gloomy. Castro proceeded to do something I have not seen him do in a while. He went with a big (97 mph) fastball to the opposite field for a solidly struck groundball single. Over the past few weeks, it has seemed like Castro has been rolling over a bunch of pitches he usually drives the other way. I hope that this stroke invokes some muscle memory for Castro.
Trend to Watch: Tonight marks ten straight games with Castro embedded in the cleanup spot. Coming into tonight, Castro was slashing an ugly .255/.308/.277 in the fourth spot and his 1-for-5 night with a single did not aid that line. Joe Maddon’s experiment does not appear to be working and I think it is time to move him to seventh or even ninth.
Coming Next: The Cubs look to take the series against the Diamondbacks with Jason Hammel (3.66 DRA/3.07 FIP/2.70 ERA) toeing the rubber against Jeremy Hellickson (5.03 DRA/4.66 FIP/ 5.52 ERA) Sunday at 3:10 CT. The Cubs are now 2.5 GB of the Cardinals in the NL Central and they look poised to remain in the thick of the playoff hunt all summer. As we head into June, it is exciting to watch meaningful Cubs baseball rather than looking forward to the MLB draft.