Cubs come away with 7-2 win on strange day at Wrigley
If you had to bet before the game, you'd most likely say that Cubs pitcher John Lackey would be ejected for arguing with an umpire and that Kris Bryant would be talking about his offensive exploits afterward.
But as Yogi Berra would say, "In baseball, you don't know nothing."
It was that kind of strange day for the Cubs at Wrigley Field Tuesday.
Oh yes, they managed to come away with a victory, 7-2 over the White Sox to even the crosstown series at a game apiece as both teams packed up for two more on the South Side.
The numbers were pretty much Cubs-like. Their batters struck out 17 times and walked nine times, and they left 13 runners stranded.
But the crazy Cubs occurrences included Bryant getting tossed for the first time in his career after being called out on strikes by umpire Lance Barksdale in the fourth inning. It was Bryant's third strikeout of the game. He usually doesn't show up umpires, but he apparently said enough to get the heave-ho from Barksdale.
Bryant wouldn't reveal what he said but he did say he was "kind of surprised" to be tossed.
"There's no need to repeat any of it," he said. "It's done, and move on."
Bryant does have a good eye for the strike zone, and he said he merely wanted to state his case.
"I've seen plenty of people get ejected before and some of their antics and what they say," he said. "Sometimes it's like, 'Wow, how are you getting away with that?' I didn't really say anything out of the ordinary. You've just got to stick up for yourself in certain situations. I'm still pretty new to the league, but I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of the strike zone. That's all I was doing, sticking up for myself.
"I'm sure I'll get a chance to talk to him (Barksdale) tomorrow. No terrible feelings. Everybody messes up. Everybody makes mistakes. I do all the time. But it just kind of stunk in that situation."
The Cubs were up 4-2 at the time, thanks to a 3-run homer by Willson Contreras in the first off Carlos Rodon and a double by Ben Zobrist in the second.
The real fun was yet to come.
Lackey already had hit Jose Abreu with a pitch in the first. In the fifth, he loaded the bases by hitting Abreu, Matt Davidson and Yoan Moncada.
"It's a pretty extreme swinging team," said Lackey, who can be an ornery sort. "You've got to go to some extreme zones. I obviously was not trying to hit anybody, just trying to get the ball in deep on a couple guys."
The White Sox took care of things in the bottom of the inning when reliever Chris Beck hit Ian Happ with his second pitch.
Happ, a rookie, handled it like a poised pro, as he went to first base without incident. Both benches were warned, and there was no further trouble.
"Got me right in the hamstring, nothing wrong with that," Happ said. "At that point, you know he's coming inside. I'll be on base for the next guy. Go to first base, take second and let the guys drive me in."
Happ stole second base, but his teammates could not get him in.
Through it all, Lackey ended up with the victory as he gutted out 5 innings to improve to 7-9 with a 4.97 ERA.
But it would not have been without clutch relief work from Carl Edwards Jr. Lackey opened the top of the sixth by waking Omar Narvaez and giving up a double to Adam Engel. Edwards came in and struck out Tyler Saladino before getting Melky Cabrera on a comebacker. He then struck out Abreu to end the inning.
"Just coming in, in a pressure situation, it's basically do or die," Edwards said. "My man Lackey gets the win. I came in with the determination. I told myself I'm not going to give in no matter what. I wanted him to get that win because he threw a great game. I was really under control because the thing was it was runners on second and third, not first and second. My first aim was to get a strikeout, by far.
"I put everything on Lackey, man. I love that guy."
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