Getting a grip: Rizzo, ‘16 Cubs assist in victory over Twins
There was pretty good symmetry building Saturday between the 2026 Cubs and 2016 Cubs, who reunited for the 10-year anniversary of the World Series win.
First baseman Michael Busch hit a home run into the right-field bleachers that bounced off the hand of former Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who was holding his young son at the time.
Busch also thought about re-creating Rizzo's famous catch while standing on top of the rolled up tarp. Instead, Busch simply leaned over the tarp late in the Cubs' 6-2 victory over Minnesota at Wrigley Field.
“That ball went up, and I thought about going on top of it,” Busch said. “I'll leave that for Rizzo. I think it's illegal now to go on top of the tarp.”
Coming up with Busch's home run ball was amazing, because last year when Rizzo sat in the left-field bleachers, he got a hand on Moises Ballesteros' first major-league home run. Fans can sit out there for 10 years and not touch a home-run ball, let alone two.
“I thought that was super mind-blowing,” Busch said of Rizzo's home-run retrieval. “The 2016 team, you can just tell by the fans how much they were loved and how much joy they brought to the city.”
The star of the game for the Cubs was starting pitcher Matthew Boyd, who allowed 1 run and 4 hits over 6 innings. The Cubs have won all five games Boyd has started since returning from knee surgery, while Boyd's ERA is 2.57 in that span.
After missing so much time with two stints on the injured list, Boyd should be ready for a strong finish to the season. Just saying, former Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta, who delivered one of the most dominant second halves in MLB history in 2015, was in the building Saturday.
“Yeah, I'm fresher right now than I was at this point last year,” Boyd said. “I haven't had the same mileage, so that is a blessing.”
As far as 2016 Cubs, Boyd feels more of a kinship with Tacoma, Washington native Jon Lester, since Boyd grew up in suburban Seattle.
“When I was in high school, (Lester) is the guy you're looking at and what he was doing for the Red Sox,” Boyd said. “That's who I wanted to be, a lefty from the same area. Those are great things to aspire to, right?”
A hopeful sign for the Cubs offense was Nico Hoerner going 4-for-4. He was hitting .326 back on April 21, dipped to .233 recently and is now at .243 after Saturday's performance.
The Cubs caught a huge break in the ninth inning, thanks to some careless Twins baserunning. Brooks Lee hit a sinking line drive to center that fell for a single, which should have loaded the bases with no outs against Jacob Webb. But with Pete Crow-Armstrong diving for the ball and getting a glove on it, the runners hesitated and overran both first and third base. The Cubs tagged both of them out for an unusual double play.
Before the game, the Cubs dedicated a new “Champions Gate,” an archlike structure above the entrance to Gallagher Way, which celebrates the team's three World Series winners.
During the ceremony, Rizzo — wearing his blue, unwashed Game 7 jersey — put forth a challenge to current and future Cubs, saying, “I'm hoping, in my lifetime, now as a Cubs fan, there's about five or seven more championships before I die up here. No pressure.”
In a unique twist, Dexter Fowler sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” from the bleachers, with help from Lester. Rizzo, Fowler and Jason Heyward took a lap through the upper deck to greet fans.
There was a solid turnout of ex-Cubs, but of course, missing those still playing, like Kyle Schwarber, Javy Baez, Willson Contreras, Kris Bryant, Jorge Soler and Aroldis Chapman.