The final game showed the Cubs can score in other ways as they defeated the San Diego Padres (53-74), 6-3. They were largely successful, going 3-for-5 on the night, but there was a moral victory hidden in there.
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NY took a 5-3 lead in the sixth inning on a two-run shot by Sanchez, his eighth homer of the season and sixth in the last seven games, and Castro’s second solo homer, his 17th.
Chicago Cubs’ Kris Bryant is congratulated at the dugout after scoring against the San Diego Padres during the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016, in San Diego.
But Yangervis Solarte, Alex Dickerson and Schimpf went down in order, the first two on first-pitch change-ups that resulted in pop-ups. After registering six hits in the series opener, San Diego was limited to four on Tuesday as it suffered its 11th loss in 16 contests. He’s done it before.
“He should be” in the Cy Young discussion, manager Joe Maddon said.
“You don’t see the velocity and don’t think there’s a strikeout in there, but the movement and the changeup provide the strikeout and his knowhow”, Maddon said. “He just nailed it”. Five more relievers followed after that, with Jeurys Familia pitching the ninth for his 42nd save as the Mets (63-62) drew within 3 1/2 games of St. Louis for the NL’s second wild-card spot.
“Learning lessons from previous year I didn’t want him to go 110, 115 pitches”, Maddon said.
“That’s our game plan”.
“Could I have finished the game? Yes”. Arrieta asked. “Yes. But does it play in our favor to maybe conserve that for later?”
The NL West leaders enjoyed their biggest home run splurge in 10 years. He also got two hits himself.
And after he was done with yet another quality start (his 15th), the bullpen took over to nail down the win. Hendricks worked the pitch up in the zone, striking out batters in three of four at-bats ending with fastballs in the upper third of the strike zone or higher.
The major league-leading Cubs are 21-5 in their last 26 games and 35 games over.500 for the first time since September 25, 2008.
Chicago has scored at least three runs in 22 straight games and has hit a minimum of two home runs in each of its last seven outings.
Christian Friedrich (4-10) lost his eighth consecutive decision. You look at the end of five innings, you give up just three runs, you don’t feel so bad about it.
Maddon stressed repeatedly about Hendricks’ confidence in his two-seam and four-seam fastballs that have fooled several hitters.
Zobrist then hit a two-run triple and scored on Soler’s sacrifice fly. Russell also drove in the Cubs second run an inning later with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly that scored Dexter Fowler, who had walked to lead off the inning. “It kind of got away from me”.
Addison Russell hit his third homer in two games, a solo shot in the second. Estevez got ahead, 0-2 to Hernan Perez, who ripped the next offering down the line in right to put the Brewers in front and make a victor out of Brent Suter (1-1) for the first time in his career.
After trouncing Arizona over the weekend, the Padres felt optimistic about their chances of giving the Cubs a competitive series.
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Travis Jankowski was picked off third in the first, and Arrieta, who is 27-5 since the beginning of last August, wiggled from jams in the next two innings thanks to two double plays, the first of three for the Cubs.
