The Cubs went into this game trying to take their record on the road trip to a fantastic 5-2, rather than finishing a somewhat disappointing 4-3. As Jim Deshaies said on the broadcast, “It would’ve been a bummer to lose this game.” Isn’t that telling? Only this Cubs team could make a 4-3 record on a trip to St. Louis and Cincinnati somewhat unsatisfying. You just expect them to win every single day. And guess what? They won today.
Top Play (WPA): The Cubs were already leading Alfredo Simon and the Reds 1-0 in the first inning when Kris Bryant made the first out by hitting the ball to the warning track in left field. Anthony Rizzo stepped up next with Jason Heyward standing on second base, and Rizzo drove a fastball from Simon out to right-center field, getting it just over the wall for a two-run homer (+0.143). At that point, it was pretty much in the bag for the Cubs. But they went ahead and tacked on six more runs for good measure.
Bottom Play (WPA): Yeah, so remember when the Cubs were leading 1-0 and Bryant made the first out of the inning? (-0.030) That was the most negative play of the day for the Cubs. That speaks to how quickly they jumped all over Simon, as well as how well Jason Hammel and the bullpen pitched. Hammel tossed six innings, allowing just three hits, two walks, and no runs while striking out seven. Adam Warren, Travis Wood, and Hector Rondon finished off the shutout with a perfect three innings and five combined strikeouts.
Key Moment: Rizzo’s homer in the first inning overshadowed this for the top play, but the most impressive swing of the game was the second home run off Rizzo’s bat.
“Why is it that when one man builds a wall, the next man immediately needs to know what's on the other side?”https://t.co/0pE2kC6PNh
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 24, 2016
That’s his eighth homer on the season, which put him in a tie for the league lead in the category. Rizzo didn’t hit his eighth home run last year until May 15th against the Pittsburgh Pirates, in that memorable, wild, 11-10 win that saw Gregory Polanco slip and fall on Szczur’s 12th inning game-winning blooper.
Trend to Watch: Heyward, off to a slow start this season, has been heating up at the plate the last few games. After a stretch of six games in which he was a combined 1-for-21 at the plate, he came into this game 6-for-15 in his last four games with a double, five walks, and two runs driven in—good for a slash line of .400/.550/.467. He had quite a game today, singling in his first three trips to the plate and driving in three runs. He added a double in the eighth inning to make it a 4-for-5 day, raising his slash line to .500/.600/.600 over his last five games. All that’s left is for Heyward to really begin driving the ball, as he’s still looking for his first dinger in a Cubs uniform.
What’s Next: The Cubs will grab a day of rest on Monday before embarking on a stretch of 16 games without an off-day. Their next nine games come with home games against the Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves, before heading to Pittsburgh for three with the Pirates. Those teams, to this point, are 20-33 combined—which means the Cubs have a great chance to continue creating distance between themselves and the rest of the division. Kyle Hendricks (4.00 ERA, 2.77 FIP), who was knocked around in his last start against the Cardinals, gets the ball against Brewers starter Jimmy Nelson (3.46, 5.90). The game is set to start at 7:05pm CST.
Lead photo courtesy David Kohl—USA Today Sports
Pirates/Nationals in two weeks. That will tell us a lot about what this team is made of!
We already know.
Guts. And black stuff. And a bunch of slim-jims. That’s about it.