In moments late throughout Sunday’s back-and-forth collection finale at Great American Ball Park, it felt extra like a Chicago Cubs residence sport than a highway ambiance towards a division rival with postseason implications.
The Cubs delivered the decisive blow of their 15-7 victory with a seven-run eighth inning after they exchanged leads with the Cincinnati Reds 4 instances by means of the primary two innings. A boisterous “Let’s go, Cubbies!” chant began among the many 37,029 followers after Dansby Swanson’s RBI double capped the massive inning by extending the result in 12-5.
“We just kept having at-bats, started off really well,” supervisor David Ross stated. “Fighting back for (starting pitcher Jameson Taillon). We kept it close. Offensively we were great all day.”
As the Cubs (73-64) return residence from the one-city journey for a seven-game homestand, listed here are three takeaways from the collection in Cincinnati.
1. Different day, totally different hitter steps up.
The Cubs have touted their deep lineup and the way anybody within the lineup or on the bench can have an effect on the sport.
Cody Bellinger (three residence runs, seven RBIs), Ian Happ (six hits, three extra-base hits, seven RBIs) and Seiya Suzuki (5 hits, two extra-base hits) supplied probably the most offensive consistency in the course of the four-game collection. But once they wanted the offense to indicate up Sunday, Nick Madrigal and Mike Tauchman stepped up.
Madrigal caught to his power as an excellent excessive fastball hitter. He went above the zone twice to attach for a double off the left-field wall that tied the sport within the second and a two-run single that put the Cubs forward 7-5 within the eighth.
After watching replays of the 2 hits, Madrigal realized the pitches have been lots greater than he thought when he swung at them. He has been working within the cage to remain on high of fastballs.
“In that moment I was trying to get the ball in the outfield, so I was looking for something up and was able to get the barrel on it,” Madrigal stated. “In the back of my mind, I was trying to get on top of it and had a good idea (Alexis Diaz) was coming fastball in that moment.”
Tauchman’s fingerprints on the win included 4 hits with a double, three runs scored and three RBIs. He entered Sunday hitting .138 with a .286 on-base proportion in his final 19 video games. He didn’t report an extra-base hit in that stretch (70 plate appearances).
“I feel like that’s kind of how our offense goes,” Tauchman stated. “It begins with a delicate single right here, delicate single there, after which we simply proceed to place collectively good at-bats and it feels contagious.
“There’s ups and downs this season and you try to stay consistent as best you can. But when it’s not going well, you feel it and you want to contribute, and that goes for everybody in all aspects.”
2. Jameson Taillon overcomes early runs once more.
A well-recognized sample has developed for Taillon because the All-Star break. The veteran right-hander hasn’t been capable of constantly ship zeroes within the first inning.
Over his final 10 begins popping out of the break, Taillon has surrendered a team-high 11 first-inning runs. That determine contains back-to-back solo homers Sunday after Bellinger’s RBI single within the high of the inning gave him a result in work with.
As he usually does, Taillon stored the Cubs in it as soon as he settled down after the second, permitting 5 runs and 7 hits in 5⅔ innings. He felt he threw too many strikes within the zone early to arrange the Reds’ aggressiveness.
“I don’t know if there’s a common thread,” Taillon stated. “I mean, on the season, it does seem like the lefties are punishing me a little bit. When I’m way behind, it’s not good, and when I’m way ahead, maybe take more shots outside the zone.”
Finding consistency from begin to begin from Taillon down the stretch is a should.
3. The Cubs management their future.
Sure, the Cubs would have most well-liked to win the collection towards the Reds, which additionally would have given them a postseason tiebreaker if the groups have the identical report after Game 162.
But the Cubs’ path to the postseason stays of their arms. The San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks, this week’s opponents at Wrigley Field, ended Sunday in a four-way tie for the ultimate National League wild-card spot with the Reds and Miami Marlins, three video games behind the Cubs.
The Cubs can put distance between them and the pursuing pack of groups with a robust week plus one other collection towards the Diamondbacks on Sept. 15-17 in Arizona.
The Cubs have misplaced solely two of their final 15 collection. If they hold that up within the final 4 weeks, there shouldn’t be a lot doubt coming into the ultimate week about whether or not they’re a postseason group. And they could actually have a division title on the road once they head to Milwaukee for the final regular-season collection.
“Every game is so important and they have been for a while now,” Ross stated. “The narrative once we have been enjoying the unhealthy groups was we’ve received to beat them after which we’ve received to chase down Milwaukee. We did that.
“We’ve got a month left of the season — they’re all important now. Try not to emphasize too much, but today’s win was big.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com