Cubs Ride the Heat (and Wind) to 10–7 Win Over Mariners

With the wind howling and temps soaring, the Cubs rode an early offensive explosion and a clutch bullpen to victory.

With his latest power surge, Ian Happ now has double-digit home runs in all nine of his seasons on the North Side. (Destiny Little - The Bigs Visuals)

CHICAGO- The first official day of summer brought the fire—literally and figuratively—at the Friendly Confines, as the Cubs slugged their way to a 10–7 win over the Seattle Mariners.

We saw the pitcher-friendly Wrigley Field all of the 2024 season, but today we witnessed the other side: 20 mph winds blowing straight out and heat radiating off the field. Offense was king.

The wind was so relentless that Ian Happ lost track of a fly ball and Pete Crow-Armstrong misplayed two of his own—though neither was ruled an error since the ball didn’t touch his glove.

“We talk a lot about Wrigley Field and how the weather affects baseball here more than any other place. We got the massive extreme to the other side today,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “Not only the wind, but we got the heat. It was really, really hot, really sunny, really windy—and it made it feel like a different game almost. It was baseball, but it was different. We fought, battled, and did enough to get a win.”

The Bats Were Hot Early

The Cubs jumped on Mariners starter Emerson Hancock, dropping a nine spot on him over the first three frames. Four of those came via the long ball, including two from Ian Happ. It marked the 17th multi-homer game of his career and his second of the season. He had just three home runs through his first 52 games—but now has eight in his last 15.

“I think I’ve done this long enough that I have confidence that it’s gonna show up at some point,” Happ said. “Just keep making the right swings.”

Crow-Armstrong crushed his team-leading 21st homer and tied Seiya Suzuki for the team lead in RBI (61), while Michael Busch added a three-run blast—his 12th of the year. The Cubs now have six players with double-digit home runs (Happ, Busch, Crow-Armstrong, Seiya Suzuki, Dansby Swanson and Kyle Tucker) and seven players with 30+ RBI (the same six plus Nico Hoerner).

Hancock was pulled after four innings, six hits, and nine earned runs. Mariners skipper—and Barrington native—Dan Wilson let his starter wear it.

Mariners Rally, Cubs Respond

Seattle made things interesting with two runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth. But the Cubs answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the fifth and leaned on the bullpen to close it out.

After the Mariners led off the sixth with back-to-back singles, Counsell made the call to Brad Keller—a decision that proved to be the game’s turning point. Keller struck out Julio Rodríguez, MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh, and Jorge Polanco (who was 2-for-2) to end the inning and halt Seattle’s momentum.

“The MVP of the game in my eyes,” Counsell said. “He did a heck of a job. A great inning. It was early to go to him for sure, but with that spot, with those guys coming up, you’re kinda going for it. Really the hope is he limits it to one or two and we add more runs. He punched out the side and then went and got two more outs. He did a heck of a job today.”

Keller has recorded 24 strikeouts and allowed one earned run in 26.2 innings pitched since April 25.

Scorcher Takes Its Toll

What started as a standard four-man umpire crew finished with three. The heat got the best of home plate umpire Chad Whitson who exited in the top of the sixth. Later, Mariners reliever Trent Thornton gave it everything he had but needed to be helped off the field after nearly collapsing with one out in the bottom of the eighth.