CHICAGO -- Seiya Suzuki lofted an eighth-inning pitch from Reds reliever Graham Ashcraft high down the right-field line, where Wrigley Field’s brick side wall runs narrowly close to the chalk line. The old ballpark’s unique dimensions created an opening for a much-needed run on Saturday.
Reds right fielder Will Benson closed in on the fly ball, but pulled up at the last moment, as the baseball dropped just inside foul ground for an unlikely hit. Ian Happ hustled home from second and the North Siders had the spark required to claim a 2-0 victory.
“It’s a tough play. It’s wind. It’s sun. The foul line is right on the wall,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “He hit a ball in a good spot, I guess.”
Suzuki’s improbable double served as the game’s decisive moment, but here are three other key elements within the Cubs' latest win.
1. Brown’s strong bounceback
The first inning has been a consistent issue for Cubs righty Ben Brown this season, leading the pitcher on a search for a solution. Beyond just pitching adjustments, Brown noted that he has spent a lot of time with the club’s mental skills team to enhance his mindset at the start of games.
“There’s been a real lapse of execution in the first innings this year for me, and it’s been hard,” Brown said. “I think we can even date back to last year. It was almost like I was waiting for something good to happen in the first inning, rather than me being on the attack.”
For Saturday’s game against the Reds, Counsell opted to hand the ball to lefty reliever Drew Pomeranz as an opener for the first inning before calling on Brown. It was a way to help switch up Brown’s routine and also allow him to skip one turn against the top of the Reds’ lineup, which scored eight runs off the righty on Sunday.
The plan worked.
“I feel like I was really able to slow the game down,” said Brown, who spun six scoreless innings, racking up nine strikeouts and issuing one walk.
The righty limited the Reds to an 0-for-14 showing out of the chute before TJ Friedl singled in the sixth. In the process, Brown joined Bill Fleming (July 11, 1942) and Tiny Osborne (July 1, 1922) as the only Cubs pitchers on record to work at least six scoreless innings with at least nine strikeouts in a relief outing.
“Ben pitched great. Absolutely his best start of the year,” Counsell said. “On the attack. Aggressive. Just in the strike zone a whole bunch. Controlling counts a whole bunch. It was an outstanding performance.”
2. Swanson’s hustle pays off
In the eighth inning, Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson legged out a crucial infield single, and did so in front of a stadium full of people wearing a Swanson-themed headband featuring a mop of black, curly hair.
“It’s not as good as the real thing,” Swanson said with a smirk.
All kidding aside, Swanson’s hustle played a key role in the victory.
Three batters after Suzuki’s fluke double, Swanson sent a grounder to Cincinnati shortstop Elly De La Cruz with two outs and the bases loaded. De La Cruz’s momentary hesitation on the throw to first helped Swanson reach safely, scoring Kyle Tucker and giving Chicago a two-run advantage.
“It’s a small thing,” Counsell said, “but I think that all your teammates see and you see the benefit of it. When you ground out to shortstop, you’re frustrated, right? But he said, ‘I’ll be frustrated after five seconds,’ and he put together a great, hard 90 [feet].”
“I was just running in anger, maybe,” Swanson said. “That’s kind of the way you get it out. Not everything’s going to go perfect. Not everything’s going to go the way you want it to in a game. There’s moments in the season -- there’s struggles, there’s ups and downs -- but effort is always one thing you can consistently give.”
3. Crow-Armstrong’s incredible catch
That added cushion allowed center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong to aggressively pursue a sinking line drive off the bat of Friedl in the ninth inning.
Friedl sent a pitch from Cubs righty Daniel Palencia diving toward the grass in the left-center gap -- a play with a 10% catch probability (via Statcast). Crow-Armstrong covered 51 feet in 3.2 seconds, using a lunging dive at the last moment to snare the baseball.
“If you’re sitting anywhere behind the plate in the stands, that’s the most fun ball to watch Pete go catch,” Counsell said. “And probably just because Pete’s out there, you think he might have a chance. And it was a situation where you can [go for it]. It’s a two-run game. It’s green-light to go for it.”