A cheerful four hours and 10 minutes after this game began, the Chicago Cubs claimed their second consecutive victory on the back of an appearance of four (and ultimately rescuing) from Rowan Wick, who is now a team-leading 4 saves this season. What do you think of it? I think he and Jeremey Jeffress will continue with the most saved opportunities here in the short term, until Craig Kimbrel proves that the improvements he has shown over his last two outings are here to stay.
As for starter Yu Darvish, his overall results last night were good (6.0 IP, 1ER) as he recorded his fourth consecutive quality start while keeping his ERA at an incredible 1.80, but there were problems. While hitting 7 and running just 1, Darvish managed 8 hits and a lot of hard contact. Even so, he worked early in the game out of an enormous moment, which could ultimately benefit Chicago in the end:
How to get out of a base with no outs jam: Presented by Yu Darvish. pic.twitter.com/Yvt6Irbvkg
– FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 19, 2020
The Cubs had a few other exciting moments in this game, but also benefited from three double plays – that would normally do the trick.
Offensively, it was a big night for interim leadoff man, Ian Happ, who reached the base four times, including his fifth homer, a single, and two walks. I have a feeling that if he continues with the leadoff PAs in the absence of Kris Bryant and in the process continues to retire on base, he could end up taking that place before the season is over. But a feeling.
Jason Heyward also had a good night on the plate, using the opposite field when grabbing two hits, but the other memorable moment in this one belonged to the left field star, Kyle Schwarber, who hit a monster explosion that Javy Baez made it fly like a kid playing small league:
Javy’s reaction to Kyle Schwarber’s ROCKET start is worth it pic.twitter.com/1dquDN8xSz
– FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 19, 2020
Speaking of Baez, his night started off a rough start (2Ks), but he eventually added a double and a walk before flying to the right field (we’d love to see him go the other way). Hopefully that is some progress after re-establishing himself on the plate.
The Cubs had 9 hits overall plus 8 walks and sat absolutely cardinal heads in the ground last night, so good on them. It was a long one, but it’s over and the Cubs have gone over to 15-7.
In fact, the next game starts in about 14 hours … and there’s one more.
Full box score.
