On chilly night, Bryant's 3-run bomb lets Cubs walk off
The process has been a gradual one for Kris Bryant.
There might be little glamour in that, but there have been results.
Bryant continued displaying his new/old form Tuesday night, and he did it in a big way with a two-out 3-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Chicago Cubs a 5-2 victory over the Miami Marlins at frozen Wrigley Field.
Bryant crushed a 1-2 offering from lefty Adam Conley, and the ball cut through a 15-mph (and gusting) wind and into the left-center field bleachers.
The home run was Bryant's sixth of the season, and it gave him home runs in three straight games for the first time in his career.
"It feels normal," said the former MVP, whose season last year was hindered by a shoulder ailment and whose 2019 season got off to a slow start. "I knew it was just a matter of time before my work showed up in the games. I've been really proud of that. I feel like I've been putting in a ton of work with just consistency in my swing and approach, not chasing too much, working the counts, taking my walks, getting on base.
"It's nice to see good results the last three games, four games, honestly back to that homer I hit in Arizona (in late April). I felt locked in since then."
The Cubs have been locked in lately. They have won eight of nine, and they retook first place in the National League Central.
Bryant has an admirer in Tuesday's starting pitcher, Jon Lester, who turned in his fourth quality start by working 6 innings and allowing a pair of unearned runs. His ERA fell from 1.73 to 1.41.
"I don't think anybody in there (the clubhouse) doubted it," Lester said of Bryant. "We've all played through injury, struggled. You learn a lot about yourself. You learn a lot about your teammates. It's just good to see him kind of in that good spot right now. He's been having some good at-bats and hitting the ball hard. He hasn't had the results lately until probably this homestand.
"It's nice to see that, but definitely, nobody in that clubhouse doubted that he would be back to being Kris Bryant."
The Cubs (20-13) went ahead of Marlins lefty Caleb Smith with a run in the first. Bryant tripled with one out and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Javier Baez.
An error in left field by Kyle Schwarber led to the unearned runs by the Marlins in the third, but Albert Almora Jr. led off the bottom of the inning with his second homer of the year. Almora also helped out on defense, making a strong throw home in the fifth to hold Curtis Granderson at third after he led off with a double, advancing to third when Jason Heyward misplayed the ball in right field.
Lester retired the next two batters and got some mutual admiration from Bryant.
"He's Jon Lester, he's just a competitor," Bryant said. "It doesn't matter if he has his best or worst stuff. You're going to get a quality start from him."
As for not getting off to a sexy start, Bryant talked about his overall game.
"Sometimes the numbers aren't as flashy as you would like, but know there's much better things to do to help the team win and that's what I take pride in," he said.