Wisdom's blast lifts Cubs to win over Rockies |
CHICAGO – As if one game wasn't good enough on Wednesday, the Colorado Rockies (57-69) and Chicago Cubs (56-72) were set to play a doubleheader at the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field. Scheduled to pitch game one were the regular Wednesday starters as Aaron Gomber took on Zach Davies. Both pitchers saw their fair share of success in the early going before unraveling in fifth.
Davies more so was pulled given his history of going through a lineup three times, while Gomber made one mistake too many to the most lethal hitter in the Cubs lineup at this point. CJ Cron wasted no time giving the Rockies an early lead as he took a Davies pitch to dead center in the second, putting the Rockies in front 1-0. The Cubs found a way to tie things up in the bottom half of the second when David Bote answered the Cron homer with a homer of his own, putting it just over the basket in left-center. .@DavidBote13 ties it up! pic.twitter.com/4Q0UDYj8k5
As good as Davies was throughout this game, he still suffered some hard contact which led to the Rockies second run in the third. With two outs and a runner on second, Brendan Rodgers ripped a single up the middle as the Rockies once again took a one-run lead 2-1. Still trailing by a run in the bottom of the fourth, Rafael Ortega, fresh off his walk-off homer on Monday, appeared to have a game-tying shot to right only to see the wind knock it down. One batter later was Austin Romine, as he picked a great time to hit his first homer of the season, lining one over the left-field fence to tie things up 2-2. Austin Romine hits his first home run of the year! pic.twitter.com/vsOOib3pYh
As the top of the fifth unfolded, Davies seemed to have things under control, but given his history, the third time through the order David Ross made the call to the pen and summoned Codi Heuer to take care of the final out and turn things over to the offense. With two down in the inning, Frank Schwindel started a two-out rally as he ripped one into the left-field corner and legged one out for a triple. Following a Matt Duffy walk, Gomber looked to get out of the inning with Patrick Wisdom coming to bat. A strikeout victim his first two times, Wisdom sat dead read on an off-speed pitch and punished it for his 21st homer of the season to put the Cubs in front 5-2. Wednesday Wisdom! pic.twitter.com/BJUsIdsJ7E
Heuer and Adam Morgan took care of the final six outs, with Morgan recording his first save of the season.
Among the excitement of the game, one walk-off win, came the comments from Trevor Story. Not only did he saw how much he loves to play at Wrigley, but he also said he would listen to the Cubs this offseason if they intended to have a quick rebuild. With Javier Baez now out of the organization, Story would be a great addition to this roster, as the Cubs need a shortstop. While some fans may not be on board with this, considering Nico Hoerner plays the same position, Story is already a proven big-league shortstop who has produced much better than Hoerner. To go a bit further, Story has compiled 150 homers in his first six seasons, which is the second most homers all-time for a shortstop through six seasons. Only Mr. Cub himself, Ernie Banks has more. The numbers are great when you look at Story, but when you look at his last two seasons and what he does away from Coors Field, there are some causes for concerns. Either way, Story will be a hot commodity this offseason, and if the Cubs intend to compete sooner rather than later, adding Story would be a great start. ICYMI: Trevor Story expresses interest in signing with #Cubs https://t.co/M4kg4mRx90
There was a time not that long ago where Andrew Miller was the most dominant reliever in the game. The lefty starter turned reliever put together a four-year that hasn't been seen in a long time and dominated both lefties and righties. You can look right at the 2016 season as to how dominant he was, especially in the playoffs. Cleveland often counted on him to get nine outs and used him three days in a row to get as many wins as possible. Eventually, the fatigue started to set in, which saw Miller go through a series of shoulder and arm injuries, and he hasn't been the same pitcher since. Given what the Cubs have seen from Heuer so far, there is a great chance he could become the Cubs version of Miller just from the right side. I am not going to say he will be better than Miller, but when you look at how he throws and the deception of which the ball leaves his hand, he does remind you a lot of Miller. Since coming over from the White Sox in the Craig Kimbrel deal, Heuer has looked the part of someone who can fill a late-inning role for years to come. Ross continues to use him in crucial moments, and for the most part, it has paid off.
At long last, the Cubs finally won a series at home after taking game one on Wednesday. After ending their franchise-worst 13-game home losing streak on Monday, the Cubs went a bit further, taking game one on Wednesday to secure the series win. That has been rare as the Cubs have just two series wins in the last four weeks, with the other against Cincinnati not long ago. This also marks the Cubs first series win at home since the core players were traded as things haven't gone as planned in the past month. Record aside, every milestone is a building block for this team going forward as they are now focusing on the future over the presence. Now it is about building confidence down the stretch and trying to win as many games as possible. Three homers power #Cubs to Game 1 W. @Vegas pic.twitter.com/KziOFRqbsy
You better be listening, Cubs
Heuer might be the Cubs version of Andrew Miller
Cubs finally win a series at Wrigley
