Late-inning drama as Cubs reach midpoint with wild win
The Chicago Cubs are halfway through their 2019 regular season, and if you're looking for a time-capsule summary of the first half, look no further than Thursday's 9-7 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
The game had a little of everything that has excited fans and driven them crazy over 81 games.
Starting pitcher Tyler Chatwood was roughed up for 6 hits and 6 runs in 5 innings. But he ended up with the "W" next to his name in the box score after his teammates rallied from a 6-1 deficit with 3 runs in the fourth, 4 in the fifth and 1 more in the sixth.
Making Thursday's theater even more dramatic was newly signed closer Craig Kimbrel, who entered the fray truly in medias res.
Kimbrel made his Cubs debut and earned the save by getting the first two outs of the ninth inning before giving up a double to Ronald Acuna Jr. and a walk to Dansby Swanson before getting the dangerous Freddie Freeman on a groundout to first baseman Anthony Rizzo.
Rizzo had to dive glove-first to the bag because Kimbrel was late in getting over to cover.
The revved up Wrigley Field crowd of 39,823 cheered Kimbrel's arrival and exploded at the final out as the Cubs improved their first-half record to 44-37.
"That was first-class stuff," manager Joe Maddon said of the entertainment value. "It was great theater."
Of course it came down to Kimbrel in a tight spot. The Cubs signed him to a free-agent contract June 7, and because he hadn't pitched since the World Series with Boston, he went through a condensed "spring training" that included an option stint at Class AAA Iowa.
Entering the game to Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine," Kimbrel stared down hitters with his "arm hang" and fired fastballs around 96-98 mph.
"It was awesome, it was great," he said. "I think as a competitor, you always want to be in those spots. It was nice today worked out like that."
Kyle Schwarber gave the Cubs a short-lived 1-0 lead with a home run to start the bottom of the first. Chatwood (4-1, 4.50 ERA) gave up a single run in the second, 3 in the third and 2 in the fourth before the Cubs rallied.
Jason Heyward tied the game in the fifth with a triple, and Victor Caratini made it 8-6 with a homer.
From there, the Cubs played it as Maddon has wanted to draw it up as relievers Steve Cishek, Brandon Kintzler and Pedro Strop set up Kimbrel.
"Obviously you want to pitch better, but the boys bailed me out," Chatwood said. "In the fifth, I finally had a shutdown inning, and we won the game, so that was nice."
The Cubs have had their fits and starts for the entire first half, but Maddon is a manager whose wineglass is always half full and never half empty.
He was seeing things that way Thursday.
"Oh, yeah," he said. "The problems that we've had are definitely fixable, meaning that to really nail down the offense with situational hitting getting better as the season in progress. Guys that may have struggled to this point have great track records. They're going to do well.
"The starting pitching is getting a little bit of a (rest) right now, which I think is necessary. You've got this added person in the bullpen, and that really is a huge difference maker. Of course I'd like to be in better position. Of course we've left some chicken on the bone. No question. But I think as we get it all together, like today, we played one of the more elite teams in baseball. Of course, we're one of them. You could see it's a toe-to-toe kind of thing. It's pretty interesting."