You couldn’t have drawn it up much better than that!
On a night when all Cubs fans REALLY needed a win, the Cubs delivered, and then some.
Not only did they thrash the Rays 9-2 in their own ballpark, but the way they got there included so many individual feats to make you feel better.
Offensively, the Cubs popped off up and down the lineup. But the four who stood out to me as needing it most — Alex Bregman, PCA, Matt Shaw, and Moises Ballesteros — had an especially good time.
The Cubs veteran third baseman, Bregman, recorded a three-hit night, including a double and a run scored, finally cashing in on all of that loud contact he’d been making.
Their center fielder, PCA, hit his first homer of the season (he needed that bad) and added another two hits in the game (line drive single, bunt single). He also stole a base.
Their temporary right fielder, Shaw, had two hits, including a double and an RBI. And he had a third hit robbed from him on a great play in the ninth. Shaw has also just generally looked a lot more confident at the plate lately. There was one ugly swing on a K early, but mostly, he’s looked much improved.
And finally, Moises Ballesteros had a two hit night, with two runs and three RBI. He also launched HIS first homer of the year, with a 105.9 MPH blast down the right field line.
But those were far from the only good games. Nico Hoerner reached base three times and knocked in two runs. Michael Conforto reached FOUR times, knocked in a run, and scored one himself. And Dansby Swanson had two hits, including a double, plus a stolen base. And he hit it hard all night long.
If you weren’t watching the game, you might see Michael Busch’s 0-5 night and worry, but let me tell you, I wouldn’t.
He came about a combined 10 feet away from three home runs, with warning track shot after warning track shot after warning track shot. Obviously, that counts for squat in this one, but I choose to believe that’s a great sign moving forward. He was clearly seeing the ball well and making good contact. He just didn’t quite get enough of them.
But the obvious story of the game – and today’s Ankin Law “Making it Personal” Player of the Game was the one and only JAVIER ASSAD.
Assad had a rough start to the season in Iowa, but was thrust into the FOURTH slot in the Cubs rotation when both Cade Horton and Matthew Boyd hit the Injured List. And in his very first big league start of the year, he absolutely dominated the Rays lineup.
We’re going to dig into his performance in greater detail tomorrow, but suffice it to say, he gave up only one hit in his 5.1 innings of work, and that was an infield single that bounced off his glove.
Assad was throwing hard, throwing strikes, and pitching efficiently (80 pitches to get through 5.2 innings of work). It was a thing of beauty and will probably help all of us sleep a little easier tonight. He won’t always be that good, but it certainly is nice to see he still has it in him.
And as if all of that wasn’t enough, in the minors, two of the Cubs’ most important prospects, Kevin Alcantara and Jefferson Rojas, continued their red-hot starts with homers.
Sure, Phil Maton didn’t look great (… again) and the Cubs got some luck when Drew Rasmussen was scratched just before the game. But we don’t need to worry about or focus on any of that right now.
We needed a W (literally and metaphorically), and the Cubs delivered.
Full Box Score.
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