Pierzynski broke it up with a solid single to right field. However, the Braves failed to produce a timely hit as Hector Rondon came on and got Kelly Johnson to fly to left and then struck out Jace Peterson to end the threat. He couldn’t have known he’d get another chance, but he did. Joining the team during a road trip to American League parks, Schwarber started five games for the Cubs – all at DH – from June 17-21.
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Hector Rondon pitched a scoreless seventh and Maddon went to Strop in the eighth, who allowed two runs on two hits and two walks.
Though he came up short in this start against the Braves, it was a terrific sign to see him have a dominant start coming out of the All-Star break.
Kershaw leads the National League with 174 strikeouts and has fanned 27 batters in his last two starts with no walks.
The Cubs are 4-0 in their last 4 during game 3 of a series and 4-1 in Arrietas last 5 starts. 320 with 13 homers, 39 RBIs and a 1.017 OPS in 58 games. If Friday’s game against the Atlanta Braves was any indication, Schwarber clearly has a few room for improvement with his defense, having made two errors in his first game back from Iowa. At that point, Jorge Soler hit a sharp grounder down the third base line that was gathered in by Juan Uribe, but the throw was off target and allowed Soler to reach.
Schwarber collected three hits in four at-bats (the only three hit performance of the night for either team), while hitting his first career double and scoring a run. That does even include his receiving skills and pitch framing ability which helps him have a 5.2 defensive WAR as stated by Frangraphs.
“He’s been swinging the bat well since he’s been up here, ” said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez, who said he “felt good he was going to put the ball in play”. Detwiler was the 50th player used by the Braves this season, the most in the majors and already equaling a franchise record set when the Braves used 50 during the 2007 season.
Pierzynski singled to right field on a 1-0 pitch with no outs in the eighth. The Braves defense also provided a couple of extra opportunities for the Cubs, which the Cubs actually took advantage of.
In the sixth inning, with Johnson up to bat, Schwarber committed a catcher’s interference and Johnson was awarded first base. He got out of a runners-on-the-corners, no-outs jam, but couldn’t pull off a similar escape in the third.
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Posey hit a two-run single in the third inning and singled in a run in the fourth as the Giants built a 7-1 lead. When the dust settled Odor laced a leadoff triple to straightaway center field and scored when third baseman Adrian Beltre followed with a one-out single. The Cubs had a call overturned in the fifth inning.
