Oh How Sweep it is: Wicks makes Cubs history in series sweep of Giants |
CHICAGO - Entering their seven-game homestand at Wrigley Field this week, the Chicago Cubs (76-64) not only had a chance to extend their stranglehold on the No. 2 Wild card spot, but also had a chance to bury two teams in the process potentially. One of those teams is the San Francisco Giants (70-70), who entered this game riding a five-game losing streak.
While the offense did most of the heavy lifting again, Wednesday was all about the pitching as three home-grown pitchers took care of business. You heard that right. Three home-grown pitchers were on the mound as the Cubs completed a rare sweep of the Giants 8-2. Making his third career start and first at home was the lefty Jordan Wicks, who has been as good as advertised so far. After going 7-0 in the minors this season and starting his MLB career 2-0, Wicks has yet to lose a game this season, which continued on Wednesday. Despite allowing a career-high nine hits and two runs, Wicks also went a career-long 6 2/3 innings before handing things off to another rookie in Daniel Palencia. Palencia not only went 1 1/3, but with two strikeouts, he looked as good as he has all season before handing things off to the big lefty Luke Little, who capped off his MLB debut with a pair of punchouts. Anytime you get that starting pitching, you will be in a good spot. Just ask the Giants, who had to go with a bullpen day in back-to-back days, which is never an easy thing to do. Fortunately for Gabe Kapler, Alex Wood was on the mound in this one as he could, at the very least, give the Giants some length if needed. Instead, the Cubs chased Wood before he could finish the third, tagging him for five earned runs in the loss. Most of the damage against Wood came in the first inning, and that shouldn't be a surprise. After Nico Hoerner and Ian Happ reached on one-out singles, it was a Dansby Swanson walk that loaded the bases for the Cubs hottest hitter in Seiya Suzuki. With a massive series under his belt, Suzuki continued to see the ball like a beach ball and took a Wood changeup the opposite way for the bases-clearing double as the Cubs led 3-0 and never looked back. 12 extra-base hits in the last 12 games. That double proved crucial for the Cubs as Wicks didn't have his best stuff in this one, working around base runners in every inning, including a leadoff double to Paul DeJong in the third. With Wicks doing his thing on the mound again, it was the Cubs offense getting back to work in the third as they continued to make Wood work. Back-to-back one-out doubles from Happ and Cody Bellinger got things started as Bellinger picked up an RBI to push the lead to 4-0. Cody Bellinger has driven in 26 runs in his last 19 games! pic.twitter.com/vCpsiMWdSL Kapler was forced to remove Wood immediately following that hit and went with Tuesday's starter, Ryan Walker, to finish the job. Close to working out of the inning, Walker saw Nick Madrigal fight off a tough pitch and flare it into right-center field as his single pushed the Cubs lead to 5-0. Mads adds one more!@NickMadrigal_3 pic.twitter.com/MHtinO620p A Miguel Amaya homer to lead off the bottom of the fourth against John Brebbia gave the Cubs a 6-0 lead as the Giants continued to search for answers. Holding a 6-0 lead in the fifth, Wicks continued to serve up hits as he worked around a pair of leadoff singles the next two innings to keep the shutout intact. It was also the longest outing of Wicks career thus far, which is all David Ross can ask for at this point. With tons of the Giants bullpen options unavailable in this one, Kapler had Sean Manaea ready to go in hopes of resting some of their arms. Manaea was strong early, but per usual, the Cubs offense eventually got to the left-hander as the leadoff double from Mike Tauchman in the sixth had the Cubs offense set up yet again. Two batters later saw Christopher Morel cash in as his liner to left extended the Cubs lead to 7-0. Back out to pitch the seventh, you could see the fatigue starting to set in as a one-out single from Luis Matos was followed by the Casey Schmitt double, and just like that, the Giants were on the board. Another DeJong single followed that double, with Joey Bart adding a sacrifice fly to make things 7-2 and ending another solid day from Wicks. That was it for the Giants offensively as Palencia and Little combined to strikeout four of the final seven hitters they faced, while Bellinger closed out the scoring with a solo shot to lead off the bottom of the seventh as the Cubs swept away the Giants 8-2. #24 for #24! 💣 pic.twitter.com/72YlC4uxqE First career Major League strikeout for @Luke_L23! pic.twitter.com/IGEjRs3xRK With the win, the Cubs pull to within one game of the Phillies for the top Wild Card spot while also moving to within 1.5 games of the Brewers for the NL Central lead as they dropped one to the Pirates 5-4. Wicks also made history in his start as he became the first Cubs pitcher to win his first three MLB starts since Larry Cheney in 1911. The Cubs had 11 hits in the ball game, with Happ, Bellinger, and Suzuki leading the way with two. Suzuki added three RBIs to lead the offense as his great season continues. Along with the Little MLB debut, Alexander Canario made his long-awaited MLB debut and struck out in a pinch-hit role for Morel in the ninth. Chicago will now turn their attention to another team chasing them in the Arizona Diamondbacks as they begin a four-game set Thursday night. Javier Assad is slated to get the ball for the Cubs, while the Diamondbacks have yet to name a starter. Should the Cubs sweep or, at the very least, take three of four, you could be looking at two teams being buried this week.
You better Belieb it. pic.twitter.com/IMEKfABiPI
