Cubs Takeaways: What we learned in thrilling, five-run comeback win over Braves
CHICAGO — The calendar flipped to September, the Cubs had a pair of new roster spots and they had optimism that they could solidify not only a playoff spot but secure a home-field advantage come October.
What a way to start the month.
Carson Kelly delivered a game-tying home run in the eighth and then walked it off with a hit down the line in left field as the Cubs pulled off an improbable, five-run rally to beat the Atlanta Braves 7-6 in a thrilling contest at Wrigley Field on Labor Day.
The win moves the Cubs (79-59) to 2.5 games above the San Diego Padres for the top spot in the NL Wild Card, with San Diego playing later Monday night. The Cubs are now 5.5 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central, who fell to the Phillies. Milwaukee’s magic number in the division is 18.
Here are three takeaways from the win over Atlanta (62-76):
Digging a hole
Three times on Monday, Cubs pitchers had two outs in an inning and an opportunity to work out of a jam. All three chances, they failed to do so, and it netted six runs for Atlanta.
The second time, a bases-loaded jam in the third inning seemed like it would be the most painful. The Braves filled the bases with one out, then Colin Rea seemed to have induced the perfect balls for his defense to convert into outs. He got a groundball from Ozzie Albies to Michael Busch at first base, who made a nifty play, throwing it to Kelly at home for a forceout to prevent a run.
The second was a fly ball to the right-center gap, seemingly destined to land in Kyle Tucker’s glove. But as Tucker ran towards it with Pete Crow-Armstrong also making a go for it, he slowed down just a touch, apparently thinking the center fielder might make a play on the ball. Instead, the ball dropped, and two runs scored.
That was a hard pill to swallow for a Cubs team predicated on defense and its ability to make extra outs with their glovework. Instead of doing that in the third inning, it turned an out into extra runs.
The second was a fly ball to the right-center gap, seemingly destined to land in Kyle Tucker’s glove. But as Tucker ran towards it with Pete Crow-Armstrong also making a play for it, he slowed down just a touch, apparently thinking the center fielder might make a play on the ball. Instead, the ball dropped and two runs scored, making it a 3-0 game.
With two outs and a runner on first to start the game, Rea allowed a walk and then a single to make it a 1-0 game. In the fifth, Taylor Rogers picked up two quick outs before allowing a single and then three-straight doubles to make it a 6-1 game.
Chip, Chip …
A Cubs offense that has struggled to score in the second half didn’t have the big, crooked number in an inning that it would have put up in the first half, but they just kept at it and at it.
Ian Happ started the scoring with a solo home run in the fourth, Matt Shaw delivered an RBI-double in the fourth and Dansby Swanson made it a 6-4 game with a two-run double in the sixth inning.
But after each of those innings, it felt like a bit of a missed opportunity. They couldn’t add on and put up the big inning that they needed. Entering the eighth inning, they were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and had stranded five baserunners.
Happ started the inning with a single, with the contact-heavy Nico Hoerner an ideal candidate to follow. But he struck out, meaning it would be up to Kelly, who was hitting .217 with 0 home runs and a .503 OPS since August 1.
Kelly delivered one of the moments of the season, blasting a two-run, line drive home run to left field to tie the game at six and send the crowd of 39,473 into a frenzy.
Away!
It just had to be Kelly.
The catcher needed to see just one pitch from John Brebbia to send it down the left field line for a walk-off hit to deliver the win for the Cubs.
On a day where the Cubs’ top three hitters — Busch, Tucker and Seiya Suzuki — combined to go 1-for-13, it was the middle and bottom of the Cubs order who carried the day. Happ, Kelly and Shaw all had two hits in the win.
The performance of the bottom of the order was reminiscent of the first half Cubs offense, where it seemed like every hitter had an opportunity to do damage. That’s a good sign, if those top three hitters, who hit .352/.450/.615 (1.065 OPS) with five home runs, seven doubles and 14 RBI on the nine-game West Coast road trip, can regain their mojo at the plate.
