Another wild ride for Cubs ends with Bryant's walk-off homer
Jon Lester spoke Monday about what it felt like to be a 23-year-old pitching for the Boston Red Sox in the World Series back in 2007.
“You kind of go back to that dumb mentality,” said Lester, now something of a veteran on this Cubs squad. “You don't really know what's going on. I was just kind of naive and going along for the ride.”
The rest of the young Cubs seemed to embrace that philosophy once again. Confronted with bad news on Monday, they made the best of it when Kris Bryant delivered a walk-off home run to right field with two outs in the ninth inning, giving the Cubs a 2-1 victory over Cleveland at Wrigley Field. The game was a makeup of a June 15 rain out.
“Guys are pumped. Guys are happy to be here and having fun,” Lester said. “Today was a grind, but guys were still having fun in the dugout and being into every pitch. It's been fun to see.”
The Cubs improved to 20-4 since July 29, the best record in the majors in that span.
“We just all believe in ourselves and it's someone new every day,” Bryant said. “That's just the way it's been going all year and we're riding the wave and it's a good one.”
The Cubs were hit with a double dose of bad news before the game. Right fielder Jorge Soler (left oblique strain) and relief pitcher Jason Motte (right shoulder strain) were both placed on the disabled list. Soler could be out as long as month, but Cubs manager Joe Maddon responded with a plug for the team's depth.
The Cubs called up Tommy LaStella, who started at second base against the Indians, while Chris Coghlan stepped into Soler's right field spot.
“You look at the depth. If Tommy comes in and plays second against a righty (pitcher) and Coghlan moves to right field, you feel like you're somewhat covered right there,” Maddon said. “And there's other guys who will be available as we move this thing further along — Deno (Chris Denorfia), Matt Szczur. It's never good to lose a Soler in the lineup, but I think we're covered right now.”
Soler is hitting .265 with 42 RBI this season. This is his second stint on the disabled list. He missed about a month in June with a sprained left ankle.
The Cubs brought up left-hander Zac Rosscup from Iowa to fill Motte's spot in the bullpen. Rosscup posted a 4.30 ERA in 26 relief appearances earlier this season before going on the disabled list June 17 with left shoulder inflammation. Motte is hoping he can be back on the mound in about two weeks.
There was also in-game bad news Monday. Lester was one out away from finishing a complete-game shutout, but gave up an RBI single to Cleveland's Carlos Santana, tying the score at 1.
Both Lester and Indians starter Corey Kluber were sharp. Kluber retired the first 16 Cubs batters before catcher David Ross lined a single to left in the sixth inning. The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the seventh when Anthony Rizzo's triple to the right field corner scored Coghlan.
Lester kept the ball on the ground and got a boost from the LaStella-Starlin Castro middle-infield combo, who helped turn 4 double plays. Shortstop Addison Russell missed Monday's game to be with his fiancee, who went into labor. Maddon expects Russell to play Tuesday in San Francisco.
Heading into the ninth inning, Lester had thrown just 84 pitches, so Maddon sent him back to the mound, but the left-hander started the inning by hitting pinch-hitter Ryan Raburn in the foot. One out later, Francisco Lindor bounced an infield single in front of the mound to put runners on first and second. Lester struck out Michael Brantley before Santana hit an 0-1 pitch into left for the game-tying single.
But the Cubs had an ace left in the bullpen — the wind, which was blowing out all day toward right field. With Lester and Kluber on the mound, no one was able to take advantage until Bryant poked a high fly ball to right that inevitably carried well into the bleachers for the second walk-off home run of his rookie season. Bryant's game-winner came off Cleveland reliever Zach McCallister.
“When I'm going to right field, I think that's my best swing,” Bryant said. “There weren't many fly balls hit the whole game. I think that's because there were two great pitchers on the mound. You figure someone's going to hit a fly ball. I'm happy it was me and happy it was our team.”