Cubs Rally Late, Knock off Rays 4-2 With Late 'Flurry' at Chilly Wrigley Field
CHICAGO, Ill. — It wasn't the easiest of nights to play baseball Monday night at Wrigley Field. The Tampa Rays, the Florida boys who play indoors, took the field with occasional snow flurries floating around.
The Chicago Cubs, who are used to this kind of weather but hate it, too, wound up winning 4-2, scoring twice off of Rays relievers in the seventh and eighth innings. With the loss, the Rays dropped back below .500 at 5-6, and have lost six of their last eight games. They have scored three runs or less in all six losses.
The defeat spoiled a third straight terrific start from Tampa Bay's Shane McClanahan, who pitched six innings, a season high for a Rays starter, and had a career-high nine strikeouts. He made just one mistake, a second-inning homer to Chicago's Patrick Wisdom, but was otherwise terrific.
"We knew with that offense that they were a very good fastball-hitting team and we had to mix it and move it against them and he had to use all four pitches,'' Rays catcher Mike Zunino said of McClanahan. "You definitely see that maturation with him. His pitching was great and his execution was really good.''
The Cubs struck first in the second inning. Rookie standout Seiya Suzuki started off the inning with a ground ball to the left side, and third baseman Yandy Diaz couldn't get to it, but cut in front of shortstop Taylor Walls, whose throw to first was off-line for an error.
Walls was playing shortstop because Wander Franco was a last-minute scratch from the lineup with quadriceps tightness.
After a McClanahan strikeout, Cubs third baseman Patrick Wisdom hit a 420-foot bomb into the left-field bleachers to put the Cubs ahead 2-0. It was his first home run of the year in 31 at bats after hitting 28 a year ago.
Tampa Bay cut into the lead in the fourth inning when Josh Lowe — who had the second-multi-hit game of his career, and the first since the second night of the season — singled and then stole second. He scored on a Ji-Man Choi single to right-center to make it 2-1.
The Rays tied the game in the fifth. Brett Phillips led off the inning with a single, and then stole second. He scored on a Lowe single, tying the game at 2-2 and chasing Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks. But reliever Keegan Thompson coaxed a double-play grounder out of Randy Arozarena on his first pitch to end the threat.
Thompson was terrific in relief for the Cubs. He pitched 3 2/3 innings and allowed just one hit while striking out five. He left after the eighth inning with a 3-2 lead.
He got that lead in the bottom of the seventh when Jason Adam, who came in for McClanahan, hit the first batter, Seiya Suzuki. He then walked Jonathan Villar, and was pulled for lefty Jeffrey Springs. But Ian Happ, a switch hitter, singled to left off of Springs, driving in the go-ahead run, giving the Cubs a 3-2 lead.
The Cubs added a fourth run in the eighth when first baseman Frank Schwindel hit a homer to right off of reliever Javy Guerra, who was acquired by the Rays over the weekend.
McClanahan went six innings, the longest start of the year for the Rays. He had nine strikeouts, also a season high, and 'felt good, considering it was snowing.
"It's a tough game, and that's how it is sometimes, where one mistake gets you. I was locked in. I didn't realize it was the sixth inning. I think I figured a lot.''
McClanahan pitched in short sleeves, the only player on the field who wasn't bundled up on a 36-degree night with wind chills in the high-20s by the end of the game.
"I wasn't going to change anything up. It's just snow,'' he said.
McClanahan allowed just two singles in three-plus innings after the home run. He didn't walk a single batter all night.
"He kicked himself a little after that homer, but then he settled right in to the game plan right after that. He was even better the rest of the way, I thought,'' Zunino said. "I was really impressed with the way he bounced back and really filled the zone.
"He really did a great job of executing all of his pitches the rest of the way, and he kept us in the game. He gave us a chance. He is really, really good, and he just keeps getting better.''
Veteran right-hander David Robertson, who pitched 12 times for Tampa Bay a year ago, came on to pitch the ninth for the Cubs. He got a flyout from Yandy Diaz, he struck out Kevin Kiermaier and, after a walk, got a ground ball to third off the bat of pinch-hitter Manuel Margot to end the game.
The two teams meet again on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field. The game time is also at 7:40 p.m. ET. Still short of starting pitching, the Rays will use another ''opener'' on Tuesday, with Matt Wisler getting the start. Lefty Josh Fleming is expected to get the bulk of the innings. Justin Steele is expected to start for the Cubs.
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Tom Brew is the publisher of Inside The Rays, and has been with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation network for three years. He is an award-winning writer and editor who has spent most of his four-decade career at the Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has written four books.