Stroman, Bellinger shine as Cubs even series with Red Sox |
CHICAGO - We talked about this at the beginning of the season as the Chicago Cubs (43-48) to be at their best, they would need Cody Bellinger to start looking like the Bellinger of old. The 2018 NL MVP had an incredible start to his career, only to see injuries derail that the past few seasons.
Signed to a one-year deal this offseason, many felt that Bellinger would be traded at some point if he could get back to that form. While he may not be there yet, the Boston Red Sox (49-44) sure don't want to see him anymore as he is putting on a show in front of the Wrigley Field crowd. One day after belting a pair of solo homers, Bellinger came through again as he connected for a grand slam as part of the Cubs six-run third inning. That was all they would need as the Cubs evened up the Series against Boston following a 10-4 win. This was a good day for Marcus Stroman, who has struggled in his past three starts. Although Stroman wasn't at his best, he still did what he has done a lot this season: deliver a quality start. Following his six innings of one-run ball, Stroman lowered his ERA to 2.88 while also picking up his team-high 10th win. He also leads the majors in quality starts, as he will be a major topic heading into the trade deadline. Opposing Stroman was the lefty known as Big Maple as James Paxton to the ball for the Sox. One of the more undervalued starters the past few seasons, Paxton didn't have one of his better outings, as he was charged with six earned runs in three innings of work. Ironically, all six runs came in one inning after a strong start to his outing. Paxton managed to retire the Cubs in order in the first two innings before unraveling in the third. Despite working in and out of minor trouble across the first three innings, Stroman kept the Red Sox off the board as the score remained 0-0. Then came the bottom of the third when the Cubs bats showed patience and made sure to capitalize on Paxton's mistakes. Not only did Christopher Morel and Patrick Wisdom take walks, but Miguel Amaya was hit by a pitch as the Cubs had the bases loaded with one out. Nico Hoerner kept the line moving with an RBI single as the Cubs took a 1-0 lead and had the bases still loaded. Following the Seiya Suzuki RBI forceout that saw the Cubs take a 2-0, Bellinger came through for another massive hit as he connected for the Grand Slam to extend the lead to 6-0. Cody Bellinger - Chicago Cubs (12) pic.twitter.com/S4RvVMypgx
Bellinger already has three homers in this Series and has five homers in his last eight games, as he has caught fire at the perfect time. Like in the first, Justin Turner picked up his second double in as many at-bats before advancing to third on a groundout. One batter later saw the Red Sox come through as Alex Verdugo pushed home a run on the RBI groundout. That was the only run the Sox managed to get off of Stroman, as he was dialed in most of his start. Despite the Cub's offense scoring six times in the bottom half of the third, they were not ready to pack it in as their offense got right back to work in the fourth. A lead-off double from Amaya helped set the offense up, but it was a long blast from Patrick Wisdom that saw them snap out of his homerless skid with the Cubs in front 8-1. Patrick Wisdom - Chicago Cubs (15) pic.twitter.com/VbRN5Ns04g
That would be it in terms of the offense for a while, but it didn't matter in this one. Across the next two innings, Stroman retired the Sox in order and gave the ball to Julian Merryweather and the Cubs pen. Merryweather has struggled lately but has put together a great body of work this season. He was immediately greeted by Rafael Devers, who opened the seventh with a lead-off double. Two batters later, Triston Casas went deep for his second homer in as many games as the Red Sox were within 8-3. That homer seemed to awaken the Cubs offense in the bottom of the seventh as they elected to single the Red Sox to death. Singles from Ian Happ and Bellinger started things off before a costly double play had the Cubs on the verge of coming away empty-handed. However, the Cubs responded once again as they delivered three more singles, including one from Morel and Amaya, to push across two more runs to push their lead back up to 10-3. Boston would add an additional run off of Michael Fulmer in the top half of the eighth before Daniel Palencia slammed the door shut in the ninth to pick up the win. The Cubs had 12 hits in the game, with Happ, Bellinger, and Amaya leading the way with two. Chicago will look to take the Series tomorrow when they send All-Star Justin Steele to the mound looking for his career-high 10th win.
