Bellinger powers Cubs in win over Phillies |
PHILADELPHIA - Although the Chicago Cubs (81-77) season may be over in terms of making the playoffs, there is still four games left as this team only needs one more win to finish the season with a winning mark. That may be a moral victory, but a victory nonetheless as this season has been about as frustrating as any of their most recent seasons.
You started to see several lineup changes over the past few games, and despite most of their regulars in the lineup today, more changes will be on the way in the coming days. You can expect to see a lot of changes on Wednesday as both Seiya Suzuki and Michael Busch had to exit the game on Tuesday, and it does look like Suzuki's season may be over. With nothing but pride left to play for, the Cubs continued their series against the Philadelphia Phillies (93-65) with a chance to play spoiler at Citizen Bank Park when it comes to clinching home field. Like the Cubs on Monday, the Phillies elected to go with a bullpen day as Tanner Banks made his second start of the season and pitched into the second inning before yielding to the rest of the pen. With Justin Steele still on a pitch count and only going four innings, the Cubs were forced to rely on their offense as a three-hit, four RBI night from Cody Bellinger lifted the Cubs past the Phillies 10-4. It marks the 13th time in their last 14 road games that they have scored at least five runs as their offense continues to impress away from home. As nice as it is to Steele get back on the mound, some fans wanted him to rest up and be ready to go for 2025, as these last few starts are meaningless. Given that he is still on a pitch count, Steele only managed to make it through four innings, as he was charged with two earned runs. Both runs came in the first two innings, with Bryce Harper connecting for the first run with a solo shot in the first to put the Phillies up 1-0. It was a lead that didn't last long as the Cubs not only got aggressive against Banks in the second, but also showed plenty of patience as they erupted for six runs to take a 6-1 lead. With Michael Busch getting hit by a pitch to put a runner on base, a pair of singles from Nico Hoerner and Pete Crow-Armstrong loaded the bases with one out. That is where the patient approach started to kick in as both Miguel Amaya and Ian Happ worked bases-loaded walks off Taijuan Walker to put the Cubs in front for good 2-1. Following a Dansby Swanson ground out that pushed the lead to 3-1, it was Suzuki cashing in with a massive-two run single as his hit goes down as the game winner to put the Cubs in front 5-1. Chicago would add one more run on another single by Bellinger as they were in complete control early. A couple of walks and hard hits and we're up 6-1! pic.twitter.com/3bszG9z6bZ As was the case on Monday, the heart of the Phillies lineup did most of the damage in this one as Nicholas Castellanos led the bottom of the second off with a double and is now 8-15 in his career against Steele. Steele nearly worked around that double only to have the catcher, Garrett Stubbs, drop down a perfectly placed bunt to first and beat Bellinger to the bag to make this a 6-2 game. With those being the only runs Steele allowed, it would've been nice to see him get the win, especially when you look at how the offense played, but with Edmundo Sosa working a long at-bat to end the fourth, Craig Counsell felt he saw enough from Steele as Drew Smyly and the rest of the Cubs pen replaced him. Still holding their 6-2 lead in the sixth, the Cubs offense took it upon themselves to put the game out of reach, scoring four more times to open up a 10-2 lead. Amaya played a role in that with a leadoff single, only to have a one-out Swanson double put a pair of runners in scoring position. With Suzuki working a walk to load the bases, it was Bellinger coming through again as he chopped one over the head of Harper at first and cleared the bases for a three-run RBI triple. Bellinger would come into score on an Isaac Paredes grounder a few pitches later, as it was all Cubs 10-2. With Tyson Miller and Hayden Wesneski working a pair of scoreless innings, Wesneski came back out to pitch the eighth as he continues to work his way back from a forearm injury. Allowing a leadoff single to start any inning isn't a good thing, but to do it in front of a guy like Kyle Schwarber is asking for trouble as Wesneski hung a slider in Schwarber's wheelhouse and he destroyed it for his second homer in as many nights to make this a 10-4 game. Wesneski bounced back to strike out the next three hitters, and he now has eight strikeouts in four innings since his return from the IL. Looking to finish things off in the ninth was the newly acquired Enoli Paredes, who replaced Gavin Hollowell on the rest. Signed off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers, Paredes will get an opportunity to prove his case for next season, and with a perfect ninth inning, he made a great first impression as the Cubs take down the Phillies 10-4. The Cubs collected 15 hits in the win, with Hoerner and Bellinger leading the way with three. Swanson, Suzuki, Crow-Armstrong, and Amaya added two hits, with Mike Tauchman picking up the final hit. The Cubs will look to close out their final road game of the season in style as Javier Assad will make his final start of 2024 against Christopher Sanchez.
