Well, that was ugly, and then it was less ugly, and then it was Nick Markakis’d. Finally, roughly six hours after the scheduled first pitch, Jeimer Candelario flied out to center with the tying run on third, giving the Braves the win, 4-3, in eleven innings. It was a disappointing end to a frustrating night at the ballpark.
After being blanked through the first seven frames, the Cubs rallied in the eighth on the backs of a Ben Zobrist RBI single and Wilson Contreras two-run single to pull ahead 3-2. However, the lead would be shortlived. To be blunt, when Nick Markakis doubles his season home run total against you in one game, it should be pretty clear it will not be your night. Markakis entered with a .343 slugging percentage and .088 ISO. However, his two run home run off of Hammel in the first inning gave the Braves an early lead.
After that first inning, though, Hammel and three Cubs relievers held the Braves “offense” to just two base runners entering the ninth. Hammel would settle down (5 innings pitched, four base runners, six strikeouts) before leaving with an apparent hand injury, and Travis Wood, Kyle Hendricks, and Justin Grimm would combine to keep the Braves off the board. Following the eighth inning rally, it appeared the yeoman’s work keeping their team in the game would pay off. However, Hector Rondon surrendered a lead off home run to Markakis, his second of the game and fourth of the season. Perhaps even more damning for Rondon was his free pass to Jeff Francoeur, who, since the start of 2013, owns a 4.3 percent walk rate.
It was a long, wet, and ultimately depressing night on the North Side. Let’s break down the highlights and low lights.
Top Play (WPA): Willson Contreras continued to pace the Cubs offense. With two outs and nobody on in the eighth, Kris Bryant was hit by a Lucas Harrell pitch. After Anthony Rizzo followed with a hit by pitch, Zobrist singled to bring the Cubs within a run. Contreras then smashed a triple to center, his second of three hits on the night, scoring Zobrist and Rizzo, and providing the Cubs their first lead of the game. (+0.540)
Bottom Play (WPA): In the visitor’s half of the eleventh inning, Tyler Flowers’s two-out single through the right side scored Freddie Freeman, giving the Braves the lead, 3-2. (-0.370)
Key Moment: The Cubs appeared to be putting together the game-tying and/or winning rally in the eleventh. After Contreras opened the inning with a base hit off of Dario Alvarez, Jason Heyward followed with a single of his own. With the go-ahead run on first, Addison Russell grounded into a 6-4-3 double played that took the air out of the stadium. After grounding into eight double plays in 2015, Russell has already grounded into six this season.
Trend to Watch: For the fifth time in his last eight starts, Hammel failed to get through the sixth inning. In that stretch, he has given up 11 home runs, which has resulted in a 5.10 ERA and an opponent’s ISO greater than .250. Hammel’s opponent’s slugging percentage has jumped by 100 points in that span. Like a handful of his teammates, the break appears to be coming at the right time for Hammel.
Coming Next: With the All-Star break on the horizon, somewhat mercifully for the Cubs, they open up a three-game series in Pittsburgh. The weekend kicks off with the slightly scuffling Jake Arrieta (since June 1, 4.05 ERA and 1.44 WHIP) taking on the even-more-scuffling Francisco Liriano (since June 1, 6.75 ERA and 1.94 WHIP). In two starts against the Cubs this season, Liriano has allowed 12 earned runs on 24 baserunners in 10 1/3 innings pitched. After getting hammered by the Cubs in May, Liriano went with a season-high 43 sliders against them in mid-June, at the expense of his change and fourseam fastball. It did not go much better that night, so it’ll be interesting to see how he attacks the Cubs on Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 PM CST.
Lead photo courtesy Dale Zanine—USA Today Sports.