J-Hey Goes Yard For A Game Winner In 11th

Cubs Nation took over Miller Park to attend The Professor’s masters class on pitching with finesse

This one felt good!(donbedouin via Flickr)

It was only July 29th on the calendar but it very much felt like it was a game in October. Chicago Cubs fans flocked to Milwaukee by the thousands and dominated the atmosphere in Miller Park. Chants of ‘Let’s Go Cubs’ rang out and drowned out any indication that it was a road game. In the heat of a pennant race, the Cubs were looking to increase their lead in the division over the Brew Crew.

With one big swing of the bat in the top of the 11th inning Jason Heyward pushed the Cubs to a 2–1 lead. The bomb propelled the Cubs to the W and a 1.5 game lead in the Central.

Kris Bryant put together a three hit night. The Professor tossed five innings of one run baseball. The bullpen combined for one hit over six innings and the Machine tossed a perfect 11th inning to convert his 21st consecutive save chance on the year.

Brewers starter Junior Guerra went only three innings as he walked four but only allowed one hit. The swing and miss Cubs struck out seventeen times, as hard throwing Josh Hader recorded six of those K’s in three innings of work in relief of Guerra.

”We’ve got to do a much better job,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. ”I am just disappointed in that lack of contact, the lack of adjustments. We have to get better with that or we’re not going anywhere offensively.”

Both teams combined to leave 22 runners on base and were a collective 1–11 with runners in scoring position.

The Brewers were able to grab the early lead in the first when Eric Thames singled and Ryan Braun doubled him home.

The lead would stand until the 7th. After Javy Baez struck out Jon Jay singled to center. Ben Zobrist grounded out to Thames at first and advanced Jay to second. Kris Bryant came through with a game tying single as Jay scored and the Cubs had new life.

Both teams matched zeros until the 11th.

Jared Hughes threw a 1–1 slider to J-Hey and he drove it over the right field wall to give the Cubs a 2–1 lead and Wade Davis closed it out in the bottom half as the Cubs tied the series 1–1.

”We can always say we want to come through hitting, that’s a no-brainer,” Heyward said. ”But you’re going to face good pitching, especially when you’re familiar with the team you’re facing, playing in the same division, tight race there. But pitching and defense are going to be huge — 2–1 last night, 2–1 tonight. It’s nice to come through.” ”I wish I could have that one back right there,” Hughes said. ”I felt good with my slider, but I missed over the plate and Heyward went down and did a good job of hitting it hard.”

So on a night that started with heavy hearts as the news broke that the Cubs Nation had lost the gold-standard Cubs Blogger John Arguello of Cubs Den, it ended with a celebration as the Cubs won a game we can all dedicate to John’s memory. Say hi to Harry and Ronny and Ernie for all of us John and we’ll keep rooting our Cubbies on down here. Rest in peace, John. Well written sir, well written.

The Cubs won, John

UP NEXT

Cubs: RHP John Lackey (7–9, 4.97 ERA) will look to continue his post-All-Star break success when he starts the series finale Sunday. The veteran is 2–0 with a 2.70 ERA over his past two starts. Lackey is 5–3 with a 3.49 ERA in his career against Milwaukee.

Brewers: RHP Zach Davies (12–4, 4.45 ERA) has struggled in his career against the Cubs, posting a 4.62 ERA in seven starts. He has turned his season around of late, going 5–0 with a 2.54 ERA over his last six outings.

Doug Preszler is the type of person who can be a Cubs fan and an Iowa fan while living in South Dakota. He is a man who cares not for regional loyalty. He can be found on Twitter @PreszlerDoug, telling tales of the Dakotan Cubs fan’s existence.