Behind Russell and Baez, the Cubs claimed the rubber match of an interleague series against the Houston Astros with a 9-5 win Sunday night at Minute Maid Park.
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After turning the tables on the Cubs by producing a pitching performance on Saturday essentially equal to what Chicago managed in the series opener on Friday night, the Astros set the stage for a rubber match that will not only determine the victor of their final interleague series of the season, but also potentially establish the tone for the final three weeks of their postseason push.
“We’re very athletic”, said Maddon, who was quick to offer as proof infielder Addison Russell, who played high school football in Florida. “I thought he did the best he could but it was an off night for him”.
Russell became the second shortstop in Cubs history to have 20 home runs and 90 RBIs joining Ernie Banks. The Cubs (91-51) finished 15-5 against the American League.
After the win, the Cubs now have the ability to cut even more off of their magic number as they head to St. Louis for a three-game series with the Cardinals. The Astros (75-68) fell 3 1/2 games behind the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays, who are tied for the two AL wild-card slots.
McHugh (10-10) won his third straight decision, allowing one run and two hits in five innings. “It was just one of those things where I went out there and gave everything I had and then just really ran out of everything completely in the sixth to try to battle through it”.
Yulieski Gurriel and Gattis hit back-to-back solo home runs in the ninth as the Astros lost for the fourth time in five games.
Fiers was tagged for seven runs on seven hits in 2 1/3 innings.
Arrieta cruised through the first five innings, allowing a solo home run to Jose Altuve in the fourth to go with a walk and single but ran into trouble in the sixth.
Bregman put the Astros ahead with an opposite-field home run to right-center against John Lackey (9-8) in a two-run third. This is going to be an exciting series and while I know the Astros are the more desperate group it is the Rangers who are the better team and that is the difference in the end here.
“From the first pitch, I was pretty much running on empty today”, Arrieta said. When Russell homered off Jandel Gustave in the fourth, Chicago led 9-0 and matched its scoring output from the previous four games. “When you get behind seven, eight, nine runs, you’re going to need a big bolt to make it interesting and get back into it”, Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. He has allowed three runs or fewer in 19 straight starts. “We had a little bit of momentum there”.
Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch (14) retrieves the ball from Houston Astros starting pitcher Mike Fiers in the third inning of a baseball game between the Houston Astros and the Chicago Cubs, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016, in Houston. Almora opened a game in right field for just the second time this season.
Astros: SS Carlos Correa was back in the lineup after missing four games with inflammation in his left shoulder.
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Their victory followed a loss earlier in the day by the St. Louis Cardinals, which leaves the Cubs in position to potentially clinch a division title if they can sweep their divisional rivals in a series this week.
