Heyward stays optimistic, then scores game-winner as Cubs top Brewers in 10
Before Wednesday's series finale against Milwaukee, Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward was asked how he could help his younger teammates and he took an optimistic angle.
"I believe we're closer than they think to an opportunity to play playoff baseball," Heyward said as he returned to the lineup after battling COVID. "Continue to have fun, continue to grind, continue to battle and go on to the next one. You're never out of it until you're out of it."
Heyward ended up scoring the winning run in the 10th inning, sprinting home from third on Christopher Morel's sacrifice fly to give the Cubs a 4-3 victory.
The Cubs enjoyed dousing the hyper-enthusiastic Morel with water after the winning run was scored. Five Cubs relievers combined to toss 5 scoreless innings. Mark Leiter Jr. kept the Brewers off the board in the top of the 10th, as automatic runner Jace Peterson was thrown out at the plate on a grounder to second.
The Cubs started the night nine games below .500, so one way to keep themselves afloat was to win the pitching matchup - which featured Cubs veteran Kyle Hendricks against Brewers rookie Jason Alexander, who made his major league debut.
Alexander, 29, wasn't drafted coming out of NAIA Menlo College, and had been toiling in the minors since 2017. But forget the George Costanza jokes, Alexander held his own after falling behind 2-0 in the first inning. He lasted 7 innings, allowing 7 hits and 2 earned runs.
Hendricks pitched 5 innings and wasn't his best, giving up 3 runs, 6 hits and plenty of hard contact.
Realistically, he could have been in position to get the win with a 3-2 lead.
When Peterson doubled to the wall in right center, Brewers teammate Mike Brousseau tried to score from first. The relay throw had him beat and he was originally called out at the plate. But Milwaukee challenged the call, replays showed Brousseau's toe got to the plate before Willson Contreras made the tag and the run counted.
Hendricks' season ERA now stands at 5.22. He kept his ERA below 4.00 during his first seven years in the majors, before posting a career-worst 4.77 ERA last season.
Before the game, manager David Ross talked about some of the issues Hendricks has dealt with this season.
"Two things, I think getting more sink on the fastball and the change-up instead of run," he said. "So more depth than flatness across the zone. I think pitch usage has been an issue sometimes with making sure he throws his change-up a lot.
"It's a really good pitch, one of the best in the game. Also using his curve ball in the right spots. Every once in a while, that gets off track. It's been the little things."
Hendricks is well-known for playing in college at Dartmouth, earning his nickname "The Professor." But Ross doesn't want him to put too much thought into what's happening on the mound.
"He's a thinker out there, he does a lot of homework and studies a lot of video on hitters," Ross said. "Sometimes I think we can simplify that a little bit. But I trust Kyle, trust him a lot from what I've seen him do.
"I think sometimes you can almost out-think yourself a little bit. So simplifying things for him is what's stood out when we go back and have conversations on the days after he's pitched."
Another significant trend with the Cubs has been base-stealing. Over the past 15 days, the Cubs lead the majors in stolen bases with 25. The second-place team during that span, Texas, has 13.
The Cubs have never been known for being enthusiastic thieves, at least since Wrigley Field was built. But they ran their way into a couple of runs Wednesday.
The first inning began with a Morel walk and Contreras single. The Cubs then sent both runners and when the throw from Brewers catcher Omar Narvaez bounced into left field, Morel came around to score the game's first run.
In the fifth, Heyward kept the Cubs out of a double play by running on a pitch, and came around to score on Contreras' RBI single to make it 3-3.
The Cubs now have a stolen base in 12 straight games, their longest streak since they had 14 in a row in September 1986. Ryne Sandberg and Bob Dernier led that team in steals.
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