(Photo Courtesy slgckgc via Flickr)

Citi Field Home Run Derby

Cubs New Batting Order takes BP against Mets Pitching

The 6–1 loss to deGrom and the New York Mets was more than Joe Maddon could handle, and I believe he finally snapped. Standing in front of a Cubs team who had lost 5 of their last 6 games, Joe Maddon took off his glasses, and raised his voice ever so slightly to announce that, “There will be changes!”

At least that’s what I pictured in my head when the new batting order was released prior to the second game between the Chicago Cubs and New York Metropolitains at Citi Field. Anthony Rizzo was moved to the leadoff spot, followed by Ian Happ, Kris Bryant, and Jason Heyward to round out the top of the new and improved Cubs lineup from Joe Maddon. Russell, Shwarber, Contreras, Lester, and Almora rounded out the lineup card for the north siders on this, the 13th day of June.

Jon Lester would take the mound for Chicago, aiming to stop a new losing streak before it had the chance to materialize. Zack Wheeler took the mound for New York, and could only manage 5 outs before being pulled in the middle of the 2nd inning. Anthony Rizzo stepped to the mound to lead off the top of the first inning, and proceeded to set the tone for the game by mashing the second pitch over the wall to dead center field. The Cubs are a team that lives and dies with the long ball, and tonight would be no different.

The Mets had a momentary glimpse of hope in the bottom of the first, when Cespedes doubled a Jon Lester Curveball into left field, scoring Lagares from third to tie the game up at 1 apiece. But that is as close as the Mets would get to taking a lead in the game. In the following inning Zack Wheeler loaded the bases before walking in the go-ahead run via Anthony Rizzo. if that wasn’t embarrassing enough, he then give up a grand slam home run to Ian Happ on a 93 MPH 2 seam fastball to break the game wide open. Russel doubled in Byrant and Heyward to cap off Wheeler’s night on the mound, putting the score at 8–1 with 2 outs in the 2nd inning. Josh Smoker took over for New York and proceeded to quiet down the Cubs bats until the top of the 6th inning, when the J-Hey Kid came to bat.

Pictured: Zack Wheeler getting used to his new position as Bullpen Water Boy (Photo Courtesy AshMarshall via Flickr)

Jason Heyward has been consistently rounding into form throughout the 2017 season, and tonight showed another step in the right direction as he belted the first pitch he saw over the left field wall for a 2 run home run. Kris Bryant homered in the next inning with a 0–2 count, off a 93 MPH fastball that should have been too high and inside to get a hold of. However, the reigning National League MVP can hit the ball where he pleases, it’s good to be the King.

By the beginning of the 8th inning the score was 12–1 and each of the first 4 hitters in the Cubs revamped lineup had homered. Kyle Schwarber wanted to get into the action, and launched a 1–1 slider towards the bleachers in right field, only to have Jay Bruce leap up and make an amazing catch over the top of the wall. The robbing of Schwarber’s home run had kept the 13th run off the scoreboard for the North-Siders, at least for the moment.

Javier Baez stood in against former Cub Neil Ramirez pitching for New York. The battle ensued, and on the 8th pitch of the at bat, Ramirez attempted to sneak an 86mph cut fastball across the plate. Almora Jr, who had reached on a ground rule double, watched Baez get a hold of the pitch, and send it into the stands with the tiniest little bat flip at the end of his swing [just so you know it’s gone]. The Cubs had 5 home runs, and if they were the Bears, would have been accused of running up the score 14–1 headed into the bottom of the 9th inning.

Joe Maddon felt he had a comfortable enough lead to bring in Felix Pena who allowed 2 runs while trying to get the last out of last night’s contest. The cushion was especially needed tonight as Pena proceeded to give up back to back home runs to Neil Walker and Lucas Duda that tightened the score 14–3. It would have been 3 straight hits if Contreras hadn’t made a leaping grab of a line drive by d’Arnaud that was 5 feet over his head. Pena then finally ended fans exasperation with a strikeout of Reyes to end the game.

Jon Lester was the unsung hero, taking it upon himself to pitch 7 innings of 5 hit, 1 run baseball. Lester is in mid-season form with a 10–1 K/BB ratio for the night. He was hitting his spots, pitching out of jams, and keeping the Mets guessing. Grimm pitched a scoreless 8th, and Pena, who is still a train-wreck on his control, closed out the win for the good guys.

If you’re defense needs some motivation, this is the Guy to do it [apparently]. (Photo Courtesy Doug Harting via Flickr)

Lester got the W to get to 4–4 on the season, and Wheeler was handed the resounding loss, dropping him to 3–4.

The Cubs offense was on fire, 15 hits, 5 of them long balls, 13 strikeouts, and 9 walks. The Cubbies converted base runners, going 6-for-10 with runners in scoring position. A word of warning for Cubs fans, a team that lives by the home run, dies by the warning track fly ball. I would rather see consistent doubles from the Cubs lineup than home runs in clusters against bad pitchers. I’d like to see the cubs spread out the 14 runs throughout their losing streak to see if they could get some of those losses back. But for one night, its good to see the defending champs firing on all cylinders.

What the Cubs lack in offense is consistency, their pitching is still there, and the defense is coming around, but waiting for home runs is no way to run an offense in Major League Baseball. The best Cubs offensive effort was in the 2nd inning when they managed to string together a walk, 2 hits, and another walk before Happ connected with the grand slam. Even if Happ had just driven the ball into the gap, it still would have been a 3 run hit. Bryant and Heyward then singled before Russell doubled to get them home, a great progression of what base runners can do when double plays don’t kill the momentum.

The Cubs Offense needs to operate more like the 2nd inning in tonight’s game, and less like guys swinging for the fences in frustration. Even if Zack Wheeler was throwing batting practice balls to the Cubbies, it’s a good boost of confidence to hopefully shake the last bit of rust off from a short winter break.

Every Cubs fan has been wondering if management will make a move for a lead-off hitter by the deadline, I’m here to tell you that’s not how Theo works. If Rizzo doesn’t work out, another name on the roster will be plugged in at the top of the lineup. It’s the part of the season where a shakeup can lead to the offense taking off, or the championship hangover will reappear and drag the Cubs back into the quagmire of another losing skid.

But for the first win at Citi Field since 2015, it was a solid offensive effort. Let’s hope it continues into tomorrow’s game as well. The Cubs record is 32–32 and they’re looking like a .500 team that should be anything but with all that power in the lineup.

Game 64/162

Big Ben Martin has a big deep love for his Chicago Cubs. They say that everything is bigger in Texas, and based on Big Ben’s love for the Cubs we would have to agree. When not playing the role of Big Ben he might be found as his alter ego Big Cynical Ben on Twitter.