Top Play (WPA): After a dominating performance from the offense on Wednesday night, the Cubs bats got the job done again on Thursday. A large part of this two-night offensive bonanza has been a resurgent Miguel Montero. Miggy started the game off right Thursday night with a three-run homer (.230) with one out in the bottom of the first and runners on second and third. Montero ended up going 2-for-4 with the aforementioned home run and a walk. It’s a platitude that often gets overused, but in this case, striking first did truly set the Cubs up for the win.
Bottom Play (WPA): Those who know the history of the Cubs may have noticed a familiar name at the top of the Reds lineup in Thursday night’s game: Ivan De Jesus, Jr. That’s right, Ivan De Jesus, he of the famous Ryne Sandberg trade, has a son and he now plays second base for the Cincinnati Reds. With the score at 3-2 in favor of the Cubs, the young De Jesus came up to bat in a two-out, runners on first and third situation in the top of the second. As if haunted by the lingering memory of the De Jesus-Sandberg trade, Jr. flew out (-.053) to, coincidentally, Junior Lake in right field to end the inning, effectively squandering the Reds best chance to turn the game in their favor.
Key Moment: I will continue to point out how important it is for the Cubs to add to a lead any chance they get to do so. With a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the fifth, Kris Bryant stepped to the plate with runners on first and second and one out in the inning. Bryant proceeded to rip a double down the left field line, scoring Addison Russell and advancing Anthony Rizzo to third. Then, following an intentional walk to Miguel Montero (.003) and a Starlin Castro strikeout (-.042), Chris Coghlan rolled a swinging bunt in front of the catcher (.065), scoring a run as Reds catcher Brayan Pena failed to field the ball cleanly. The Reds did not score again in the game, but I would still contend that the extra runs allowed the Cubs to approach the rest of the game differently and allowed for the type of somewhat relaxing win the Cubs have not generally been accustomed to this season.
Trend to Watch: The Cubs bullpen coming into Thursday was having a fantastic last few weeks, having posted a 2.69 FIP in the last two weeks. A revitalized Jason Motte and the healthy and rolling Justin Grimm seem to be a large part of this, with Motte especially looking stalwart, as the bearded righty has not allowed a single run since May 15. The bullpen kept up their recent hot streak by putting together six scoreless innings to finish off the game in relief of a struggling Tsuyoshi Wada. The standout tonight was Travis Wood, who pitched 2.1 innings of spotless relief, allowing only one hit and ultimately serving as the bridge to the recently stalwart group of Justin Grimm, James Russell, Pedro Strop, and Hector Rondon. Having recently acquired Rafael Soriano and with rumors connecting the Cubs to Jonathan Papelbon, the bullpen may only get better, but for now, it appears it is already trending up.
Coming Next: The Cubs (32-26), having won five of their last seven, look to keep rolling against the Reds (27-32). The two teams match up two of the National League’s best starters to this point against each other in Jason Hammel (2.76 ERA, 3.03 FIP, 3.06 DRA) and Johnny Cueto (2.64 ERA, 3.27 FIP, 2.32 DRA).
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