Cubs rookie Swarmer rocked by powerful Yankees lineup
Apologies in advance for this one:
Back in the day in their hometown of Reading, Penn., Matt Swarmer's dad used to deliver future pop star Taylor Swift's mail.
Recovering from what happened at Yankee Stadium on Saturday will be more complicated than just telling the Cubs rookie to "Shake it off."
Swarmer gave up 6 solo home runs over 5 innings as the Yankees rolled over the Cubs 8-0 in the Bronx. Aaron Judge sent two into the seats, Anthony Rizzo hit the sixth of the night and Giancarlo Stanton unleashed the hardest hit home run of the season with a 119.8 mph exit velocity.
"Definitely a good lineup, best I've ever faced," Swarmer told reporters after the game. "But I've still got to make my pitches. Just getting behind hitters sometimes and leaving the ball up in the zone. I've just go to do a better job executing and hopefully better things happen next start."
The only other bit of significant news for the Cubs was Christopher Morel's on-base streak ending at 22 games to start his major league career. Morel went 0-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt.
In two games at New York, Cubs hitters have gone 0-for-25 with runners in scoring position. Their only run came on a Jason Heyward solo homer and the losing streak grew to five games.
Giving up 6 runs in 5 innings to the best team in baseball is a fairly common occurrence. The 6 home runs made it unusual.
According to ESPN stats, Swarmer is the second pitcher in history to give up 6 solo home runs in a game, joining Brooklyn's Hollis "Sloppy" Thurston on Aug. 13, 1932.
Oddly enough, Thurston tossed a complete game and was the winning pitcher that day, besting the New York Giants 18-9 at the Polo Grounds.
The only other Cubs pitcher to give up 6 home runs in a game was Tom Lee in 1884, so this was a rarity.
"I've definitely seen him better," manager David Ross said. "Solo shots, I guess that's better than walks. Those guys have got some powerful swings. They have the potential to put up some numbers with one swing of the bat and they did that today."
Swarmer certainly got a little sloppy with his pitches. He typically tries to use the fastball to set up three different sliders, that can break down or in either direction. On both home runs by Judge, he hit fastballs right in the middle of the plate. Some of the others were sliders that didn't break like they should have.
Through three major league starts, Swarmer's ERA is still a respectable 4.24. He'll keep getting chances, since the Cubs are down three starters. They added Wade Miley to the injured list Saturday with a left shoulder strain after he left Friday's contest early. He joins Marcus Stroman and Drew Smyly, who were already on the injured list.
"Just going to try to limit the damage next time when things start hitting the fan; try to make them feel more uncomfortable up there," Swarmer said. "They just seemed like they saw the ball well. I've got to do a lot better moving forward."
The Cubs finally announced Keegan Thompson as Sunday's probable starter for the finale in New York. Justin Steele and Kyle Hendricks are set for Monday and Tuesday, respectively, at home against San Diego.
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