Heyward said he was yelling for Zobrist to go for the ball.
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The big home runs helped the Cubs win their third straight after dropping eight of 12.
Chicago (34-14) regrouped from a 4-8 stretch with five consecutive victories, capped by a weekend sweep of Philadelphia to open a 10-game homestand.
That seems like a cinch with the Cubs hitting again. Philly has a respectable 26-21 record, and are one game back of the Pirates for the second NL wild card spot.
Zobrist became the first Cubs player with 40 May hits since Alfonso Soriano in 2008. Important timely hitting and trustworthy pitching have been major factors in the Cubs’ success all year long, and if we see what we’ve been seeing lately for the remainder of the year the Cubs should see themselves in a prime spot come the playoffs.
“I’m trying to figure out myself if I can keep this up, to be honest”, he said. “I thought he could have planted and thrown it over there”.
Same goes for the Cubs, who, thanks in large part to their 35-year-old second baseman, found themselves 20 games north of.500 as the 29th day of the month closed Sunday with a 7-2 victory against the Phillies. In five road starts this year, the right-hander is 2-0 with a 4.50 ERA.
Phinney covered the 31-mile course in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 1 hour, 2 minutes, 45 seconds to win his third US title.
Hosmer, who hit.120 (3-for-25) on the just concluded six-game trip, laced a two-run single with two outs in the seventh to put the Royals ahead. Those are better chances than anyone else, but once the playoffs start, there’s usually no such thing as a heavy favourite.
Martin hit his third home run in four games with a solo shot over the right-field wall in the sixth inning, while Xander Bogaerts and Shaw both had home runs for the Red Sox.
The roar from the crowd as he walked toward the mound for the ninth inning was one of the highlights for Kyle Hendricks. The Cubs won’t face Los Angeles ace Clayton Kershaw in the four-game series. He said, ‘Man, I heard you saying something.
The Detroit Tigers saw off the Oakland Athletics 4-1, the Los Angeles Angels eased past the Houston Astros 7-2 and the Minnesota Twins beat the Seattle Mariners by the same scoreline.
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Hendricks cruised from the start, facing the minimum nine batters through the first three innings without a ball leaving the infield. The inning included Brett Eibner’s double, his first major league hit, and Whit Merrifield’s two-run single. The 41,555 on hand cheered wildly as Hendricks walked out to pitch the ninth inning, and his warm up music – Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion” – blared over the PA. Phillies starter Vince Velasquez (5-2) worked just 4 2/3 innings as the Cubs scored in four of the five innings he appeared.Miguel Montero homered and added an RBI single, Ben Zobrist slammed a three-run home run while Kris Bryant went 2-for-3 and scored twice to pace the Cubs’ offense.Chicago struck quickly for the second straight day.
