Canario hits grand slam, drives in 5 runs in Cubs win over Pirates
David Banks - USA Today Sports

Canario hits grand slam, drives in 5 runs in Cubs win over Pirates
by - Senior Writer - Wed Sep 20 08:52:16 GMT-04:00 2023

CHICAGO - Coming off a 1-5 road trip and losers of eight of their last 10, things have been looking bleak for the Chicago Cubs (79-72) as they have fallen out of a Wild Card spot. Although that is a tough pill to swallow, the season is far from over, as the Cubs still have 12 games to get back on track and a run for the postseason.

To get back on track, the Cubs needed to win a game, and perhaps a matchup against the Pittsburgh Pirates (70-81) to kick off their final homestand at Wrigley Field would be the game the Cubs needed to wake up. Talk about a team you have their number against; the Cubs entered this series with a 9-1 record against Pittsburgh and an unbeaten mark at home. Those numbers would continue as a strong start from Javier Assad mixed with a relentless offensive barrage led the Cubs to the 14-1 win and moved them back into one of those Wild Card spots.

Coming off arguably his worst start of the season and a rough last two starts, Assad couldn't have been happier to see the Pirates, as one of his best games of the season was against them back in August. Despite an extremely high pitch count early in the game, Assad settled in as he gave the Cubs five innings of work, allowing one run on five hits while striking out eight.

He did his part on the mound while the offense did more than their share of damage against the Pirates staff.

Opposing Assad was left-hander Bailey Falter, who didn't even make it through two innings. That followed a 90-minute rain delay to open things up as Falter walked Nico Hoerner to begin the game before Dansby Swanson unloaded for a two-run blast to put the Cubs on top 2-0.

That was the first of four homers by the Cubs in this one as they erupted for a massive game at the plate.

After working through a jam in the first inning, Assad settled in as the second inning rolled around and began to look like the August version of himself. You could say the same about the offense, with Christopher Morel working a walk to begin the bottom half of the second before racing home on a Patrick Wisdom double to extend the lead to 3-1. Wisdom would later come in to score on the Nico Hoerner sacrifice fly as it was all Cubs early, 4-0.

The lone run of the game for the Pirates came in the top half of the third as Ke'Bryan Hayes took Assad the opposite way for a solo shot and closed the deficit to 4-1. His homer was followed by a pair of singles from Jack Suwinski and Joshua Placious before Assad worked around that jam to minimize the damage. Those hits would also be the Pirate's final hits for quite some time as Assad, Jose Cuas, and Drew Smyly combined to retire 15 consecutive hitters at one point in the game.

Although the Cubs held a three-run lead, things never felt safe as the wind blew straight out to the left and only picked up as the game went on. Seiya Suzuki did his part to extend the Cubs lead as he picked up three hits in the ball game, with one of them coming as a solo shot in the third to extend the lead to 5-1.

Suzuki would add a single in the fifth and a double later in the game as he has been an unstoppable force the past 45 games.

For the most part, Quinn Priester was very good in relief as he bounced back from a rough first inning to settle in. That was until a leadoff walk from Ian Happ seemed to rattle him as the Cubs offense was looking to bounce. Leave it to the rookie Alexander Canario to come through as he made his first career MLB start and delivered his first career knock as his RBI double extended the Cubs lead to 6-1 and gave the Cubs the insurance they were looking for.

If you want to talk about insurance, why not head to the bottom of the eighth when the Cubs gave Assad some insurance and did so in a major way. What started with a leadoff hit by pitch to Yan Gomes was followed by a pair of walks to Morel and Pete Crow-Armstrong as the Cubs loaded the bases without a hit. With one RBI under his name, Canario delivered the knockout blow by connecting for a grand slam for his first MLB homer as the Cubs busted the game wide open 10-1.

A pair of singles from Hoerner and Swanson followed that homer, with Cody Bellinger adding to the Cubs lead with a three-run blast as Chicago was up 13-1.

For Bellinger, that was a much-needed hit after a rough road trip as he is inching closer to that 100 RBI mark. Still not out of the woods, Suzuki kept the party going with a double, but after Miguel Amaya popped out, it looked as if the offensive fireworks were ending.

That was until Jared Young came through with his third triple of the season for the Cubs as he capped off an impressive eight-run eighth to put Chicago up 14-1 with only three outs to go. Fellow Rookie Luke Little took over from there and worked around a walk by striking out the side as the Cubs picked up a much-needed victory 14-1. Their win, mixed with a Reds loss, moves them back into the third WC position as they expect to be in a dogfight the rest of the way.

Suzuki led the way with three hits, but Canario's two-hit five RBI day set the tone. Gomes and Morel were the only two starters without a hit in this one, as the Cubs have now won 10 of 11 against Pittsburgh this season. The Cubs will go for the series win on Wednesday as they send their Ace, Justin Steele, to the mound against Pirates Ace Mitch Keller. Steele is coming off his first loss since June, where he was roughed up for six runs in six innings against Arizona on Saturday.

Comment on this story
Print   
Send Feedback to Dustin Riese: Email | Comment
Post your comments!
Read all 0 replies on the Baseball Board - Chat about this in ChicagoSportsHQ Chat
📰 E-Mail News Alerts
Top Javier Assad News
Top Chicago Sports News of the Week