“Go Cubs Go” reverberated via the house clubhouse postgame Friday at Wrigley Field as gamers belted alongside to the tune.
The Chicago Cubs’ season-high 10-game shedding streak had come up towards the Atlanta Braves’ franchise-record-tying 14-game successful streak. So when small ball within the eighth inning produced the sport’s lone run on Christopher Morel’s sacrifice fly and David Robertson labored out of a bases-loaded jam within the ninth to safe the 1-0 win, they’d loads to rejoice.
The Cubs — lastly — had been again within the win column.
Friday marked the primary time since Sept. 15, 1999, {that a} staff with a double-digit shedding streak beat a staff on a double-digit successful streak, in accordance with Elias Sports Bureau.
“Look, we’ve had some ugly ones lately, but I haven’t questioned the effort or the intensity of the guys at all,” supervisor David Ross mentioned. “And nobody’s been making excuses. … There’s something about a starting pitcher going out and setting the tone.”
Right-hander Keegan Thompson delivered the kind of begin the Cubs desperately wanted. Coming off dangerous begins in Baltimore and New York wherein he was tagged for a mixed 12 runs (10 earned) in 3⅔ innings left Thompson looking to get again on monitor. Ultimately he and the Cubs decided pitch choice, not mechanics, had been on the root of his struggles.
Thompson wanted to throw extra fastballs. Well, the Braves definitely noticed loads en path to Thompson pitching into the seventh inning for the primary time in his major-league profession. Thompson’s four-seam fastball accounted for 52% of his 92 pitches, getting 10 whiffs and 9 referred to as strikes with the pitch. His 18 whole swings and misses had been probably the most by a Cubs pitcher this season.
“My core belief — and I’m probably not the norm in the new age — is you pitch with your fastball, especially the starter,” Ross mentioned. “He did that today. That was what you do. Nobody took good swings.”
Thompson made a acutely aware effort to go to his fastball early and infrequently towards the Braves. He knew how essential it might be to ascertain his fastball, a pitch that has been essential throughout his profitable outings this season. Thompson admitted he obtained away from throwing his fastball in his earlier two begins when he was roughed up.
Rather than overthinking his mechanics, Thompson believes discovering the precise tempo and timing mixed with extra fastballs and attacking hitters are his keys to success.
“I think it was trying to place balls the last time instead of just going after guys and staying in the zone and letting them put it in play,” Thompson mentioned. “There was a couple of fastballs that were hit in one of my outings and I think it just took me away from it. I was throwing more offspeed stuff or two seams instead.”
The solely time the Braves superior a baserunner previous first towards Thompson got here on a delicate fly ball within the fifth inning. It landed contained in the white chalk as proper fielder Jason Heyward was unable to achieve it earlier than the ball bounced out of play for a ground-rule double. Orlando Arcia’s fluky double had a .010 anticipated common. Thompson responded by putting out Michael Harris II for a career-high ninth strikeout to maintain the sport scoreless.
A seven-pitch sixth resulted in Ross sending Thompson again out for the seventh on a batter-by-batter method. Thompson’s day ended after a four-pitch stroll to Matt Olson, the Braves’ first hitter of the inning. But not like different days in the course of the Cubs’ shedding streak, the bullpen threw zeros. Morel’s heroics capped the Cubs doing the little issues proper within the eighth. Pinch hitter Jonathan Villar walked and superior on Andrelton Simmons’ sacrifice bunt. Villar stole third base throughout Morel’s at-bat and beat Harris’ throw dwelling.
Morel had struck out thrice towards starter Charlie Morton earlier than coming via with the go-ahead RBI towards the Braves bullpen. Before Morel’s ultimate plate look, Willson Contreras instructed him to not chase the low stuff like he did in his earlier at-bats and look to assault one thing excessive.
“Just the small things, that’s what (Ross) said to us is going to be the key to winning games,” Morel mentioned via an interpreter.
Thompson has a chance to construct off his stellar efficiency as he tries to ascertain himself as a big-league starter. He set a profession excessive in innings (six-plus) and strikeouts whereas holding a sizzling Braves offense to 2 hits and two walks.
“He’s back,” an impressed Contreras mentioned afterward.
Pitching coach Tommy Hottovy talked with Thompson forward of Friday’s begin and put his two ugly street outings in perspective: “You’ve had really good stretches, chalk it up to having a bad week.”
It was essential for Thompson to easy methods to compete even when issues aren’t going nicely. Hottovy mentioned these struggles didn’t change the Cubs’ minds in any respect about what Thompson can do as a starter.
“That’s part of learning in this league,” Hottovy instructed the Tribune. “You can learn a lot having success. You learn way more when you fail.”
The Cubs will proceed to lean on their less-experienced starters, notably Thompson and Justin Steele, with three veteran pitchers on the injured record. Marcus Stroman (proper shoulder irritation) would possibly return the soonest, although after taking part in catch Friday he couldn’t put a timeline on his return. Stroman hopes it will likely be a number of weeks “give or take.”
Thompson’s capacity to bounce again Friday relatively than letting two dangerous begins snowball into prolonged struggles is a superb improvement for the 27 12 months outdated.
“It does show a lot about Keegan because for a good while there he goes and has a couple hiccups that you tend to want to abort ship and try to correct everything,” mentioned Yan Gomes, who caught him Friday. “He’s not the sort of man that’s. For him is rather like virtually having that bulk mentality of simply come out, throw as onerous as you possibly can and throw all of your pitches with main conviction.
“He’s got the potential to be a tremendous starter. He’s just got to find himself a little bit more, and you’re starting to see big spurts of that.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com