Contreras has grand day as Cubs rout White Sox, 11-2
It was only appropriate that Friday was Willson Contreras bobblehead day at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs catcher has been quite the real-life action figure these last couple days.
Contreras had himself quite the day in the Cubs' 11-2 dismantling of the White Sox, and he's piled up some numbers over the last two games.
His grand slam in the first inning helped the Cubs to a 5-0 lead. He later hit a solo homer and added a pair of doubles, the second of which drove in 2 runs. That gave him a career-best 7 RBI.
"I'm just really thankful to the team for giving me my bobblehead day," he said through a translator. "But honestly, I'm just glad I was able to keep everything simple. That was my approach today. I was able to do pretty well today."
Over the past two games, Contreras has gone 7-for-10 with 3 doubles, 2 triples, 2 homers, 8 RBI and 4 runs scored. According to STATS Inc., he is the first Cubs player since at least 1913 to record 7 extra-base hits in a two-game span.
For as much power as Contreras possesses - he hit 21 homers last year - Friday's home runs were only his second and third of this season.
"I just think that it's part of the game," he said. "Baseball is a game of ups and downs. It's just a matter of getting in the right rhythm. I think of the beginning of this year to that of last year. I'm not expecting myself to have the same start to every season. But again, it's just a matter of making all the adjustments necessary on the field."
Contreras hit his grand slam off White Sox starter Carson Fulmer. The solo shot came in the sixth against Chris Beck.
But that wasn't all. With the Cubs up 5-0 in the top of the third, Contreras picked Sox baserunner Matt Davidson off second base with Hector Santiago up trying to bunt two runners ahead.
"How about his pickoff at second base?" asked manager Joe Maddon. "That really kind of like turned the thing around a little bit because they had something going on."
Maddon might have been a little charitable there. The Sox have lost six in a row, falling to 9-26 while the Cubs (20-15) have feasted on the Marlins and Sox, winning four in a row and outscoring their hapless opponents 42-11. That will help the run differential.
About the only concern Friday was continued command woes by starting pitcher Tyler Chatwood, who walked five in 5 innings as he gave up 3 hits and 2 runs. Chatwood, the team's No. 5 starter, evened his record to 3-3 with an ERA of 3.35.
But the walks do remain a red flag. He has yielded a team-high 32 in 37⅔ innings pitched. On the bright side for Chatwood on Friday, he didn't give up a hit until the fourth inning.
"In the first two innings, I felt like I had really good command," he said. "In the third inning, I started spraying a little bit. So I think it's just a matter of carrying that feeling I had the first two innings throughout the game because I'm putting myself in bad spots rather then making them hit it, especially with the lead I had. I needed to do that a little more."
Chatwood didn't see a whole lot of Contreras when he pitched for the Colorado Rockies. He sounded glad to have him on his side Friday.
"Playing against him, you know the great arm he has," Chatwood said. "You see what he features back there (behind the plate). But just seeing how solid he hits the ball, his approach at the plate and obviously his behind-the-plate skill is pretty special as well. Being able to do that while getting beat up essentially by us pitchers bouncing stuff at him and still having the offensive production that we know he's capable of is pretty impressive."
•Twitter: @BruceMiles2112