Call me #GENESTRADAMUS.
For the second time this week my prediction was on point! Refer to my tweet…”@JasonHeyward is about to earn that top dollar he’s getting right here!!!”
After he picked up his second error in two weeks after zero in almost five months, Jason Heyward walked up to John Lackey and told him “My fault. I got you!”
#JHey came through with his best day at the plate this season as he went 3-6 and responsible for all 3 of the Cubs runs. The last one coming in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the 13th as the Cubs pulled out a 3-2 win over the San Francisco Giants at Wrigley Field to take the series 3-1.
“He’s had difficult luck. Good for him today,” says skipper Joe Maddon, “It made all the sense in the world for them to walk Addy. He has 88 RBI’s. That had to sit somewhere with Jason.”
Heyward sent the game into extra innings with an RBI single in the 9th inning to tie the game at 2. The Giants intentionally walked Addison Russell in the 13th to get to Heyward. He responded with a game winning single to score Anthony Rizzo from 2nd base.
Maddon said his advice to Jason was to sit back, watch the game and observe when he sat him for the Colorado Rockies series in Denver late last month. Eventually he would realize that there aren’t too many people that can do what he does out there on the field. The message resonated today and that added punch in the lineup is just what the Cubs need to make their run. Not to mention Heyward is making 18 m’s this year and in most analysts eyes he hasn’t lived up to it. But in this analyst eyes, Heyward can make it all right with clutch play in”the offs”.
John Lackey saw his first action since August 14th as he pitched 5 innings giving up 1 hit and 2 runs (1 unearned) while striking out 4. The bullpen was off the hook! Rob Z, Joe Smith, Travis Wood, CJ, CHAPO, Grimm Reaper and Trevor Cahill came in and shut it straight down allowing 3 hits over 7 innings. (The bullpen had 16 shutout innings this series and the Cubs allowed 14 hits in this 4 game series which is the least amount of hits given up in a 4 game series at Wrigley since 1934)
This was a well played game/series by both teams and definitely a statement made by the Cubs to let the Giants know what time it is and there will be a fight for the N.L. crown.
The Cubs head to Milwaukee to face the Brewers September 5th-7th. They have a day off Thursday then go to Houston for a 3 game set against the Astros Sep 9th-11th. They will then head straight to St. Louis to face the Cardinals Sep 12th-14th before returning home to host the Brewers.