The Brewers took a two-run lead, and with the Cubs’ outs dwindling, it looked to be a triumph for Milwaukee over the hangover Cubs.
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INDIANS 6, WHITE SOX 1: Josh Tomlin pitched five effective innings in his return to the Indians’ rotation, Coco Crisp hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning to break the game open and Cleveland beat Chicago to remain six games ahead of Detroit in the AL Central.
Maddon conceded that the Cubs actually had a party checklist before Thursday’s game even started, failing to specify just how many weeks, or months ago, the party was planned.
All season long, it was obvious that the Chicago Cubs would eventually emerge as the National League Central Division champions.
Cubs players and coaches came out to the field prior to Friday’s first pitch to take a bow in front of cheering fans after clinching the NL Central title late Thursday night.
While the Chicago Cubs made a decision to delay their party, their long-downtrodden fans were ready to celebrate.
It appeared manager Joe Maddon and his players were long gone when the West Coast game wrapped up.
Fans turned to the Cardinals-Giants game in San Francisco.
Cubs: LF Jorge Soler departed after three innings due to tightness on his right side.
They could face the Mets again, this time in a best-of-five division series, but these aren’t the same Mets.
Samardzija started the opener in Chicago and allowed three runs in four innings of a 5-4 loss. The Cubs hadn’t celebrated a division title in eight years, and that can feel like a lifetime.
Really, this is where the Cubs envisioned they’d be all along when they arrived at their Mesa, Ariz., spring-training camp in February, and they fully expect to be playing until late October or early November, winning the final game of the year.
“I don’t think I’ve been on a team this talented and capable of dominating at times”, said second baseman Ben Zobrist. And a good regular season is no guarantee of success in October (and, as the Major League Baseball playoffs now have more layers than your average onion, of success in November).
Pinch-hitter Gregory Polanco had a tiebreaking three-run double and the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied from four runs down to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-6 on Saturday night. Relief pitchers Travis Wood, Justin Grimm, Trevor Cahill, and Mike Montgomery have all for the most part held their own this second half, as the Cubs wait for Pedro Strop to come back from the DL. Gennett, batting for Jimmy Nelson (8-14), blooped an 0-2 curveball into the corner in left for a 5-3 Milwaukee lead.
“I just can’t swing and miss”, Altuve said, laughing. “While I was on the ground I tried to move it around to see if I could move it and it wasn’t budging too much”. “It’s really just, get a good pitch to hit and put it in play”.
Thornburg also worked the ninth for his 10th save in 15 chances.
While Brewers manager Craig Counsell said this week that Blazek could be cleared to pitch, the priority is his health. They can do it tonight with a win at home over Milwaukee or a St. Louis loss in San Francisco.
NOTES: Brewers RHP Michael Blazek threw a simulated game on Thursday and will try another next week at home. He said if Chicago goes all the way, the celebration will be electric. The Cubs went on to load the bases with one down and pinch-hitter Addison Russell tied the game with an infield hit.
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“It’s fun, ” Maddon said.
