You’ll be forgiven for thinking that, because I certainly did: When Jorge López was greeted with a home run by Addison Barger on his first save opportunity as a Cub, I immediately thought, “Hey, Hector Neris could have done THAT!”
But unlike Neris, who has had too many save opportunities this year, López did everything he could to strike out the next three Blue Jays, including a pretty good hitter like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and finish the game, giving the Cubs a hard-fought 3-2 victory on a day when the rain just wouldn’t stop.
I’ll get back to that, but let’s rewind to the beginning of the game. After Justin Steele got in and out of trouble in the first inning, Ian Happ sent the very first pitch he saw into the stands (VIDEO).
So the Cubs took a 1-0 lead with one pitch. On the leadoff home run by BCB’s JohnW53:
Ian Happ’s home run was his second in eight days as the Cubs’ first batter and his eighth overall, putting him tied with Brian McRae for fourth place in team history for most home runs. Alfonso Soriano hit 22, Rick Monday hit 17 and Dexter Fowler hit 12.
That’s also 22 home runs this year for Happ. His career high is 25, set in 2021. He has a really good chance to break that, and an outside chance of 30 if he gets going. He could also break his career highs in runs and RBI, probably another 4-bWAR season, and he has a chance to win another Gold Glove.
And yet some of you want to exchange it. That would be a mistake.
After Steele took Will Wagner out of the game in the second inning, it started to rain. And yes, it rained pretty hard and the grounds crew wasn’t quite ready and the infield got pretty soaked.
The delay lasted 37 minutes, slightly longer than expected, as a lot of desiccant had to be applied in the infield.
Steele retired the next two batters to end the second inning. After Nico Hoerner grounded out to the third inning, which Barger stopped brilliantly (VIDEO), it started to rain again.
The second delay lasted about 18 minutes, and yes, they needed it because it was raining moderately and they didn’t want to risk the field becoming unplayable. I’ve seen some complaints on social media about this delay, and I’m sorry, but if you weren’t at the game, they are unjustified. The delay was necessary on a day of odd weather where these little sudden showers could become heavy for a short period of time.
Here is the best social media saying made during the delay:
During the rain delay, Tyler Bagent threw two touchdown passes to Dante Pettis on the south side.
— TJ Araki (@TjAraki) 17 August 2024
After play resumed, Dansby doubled Swanson but remained standing.
And then Steele didn’t come out for the third inning, which I think was the right decision. Too much up and down could lead to injuries. So Craig Counsell made the game a bullpen game, and the bullpen did the trick.
Nate Pearson threw a scoreless third and fourth base, although he loaded the bases with a double and two walks. He came away with a strikeout and a fly to right. Pearson has talent and I think this will prove to be a good acquisition.
After Tyson Miller threw a scoreless fifth run, the Cubs went back on offense. Swanson hit a single and got to second base on a beautiful drag bunt by Pete Crow-Armstrong. After a sacrifice attempt by Miguel Amaya, Swanson was forced to third base, but both remaining runners scored on this triple to deep center by Michael Busch (VIDEO).
As you can see, the sun had come out by now and Busch’s hit missed a three-run home run by maybe three feet.
Next up was Julian Merryweather as a pitcher, who did not score a run in the sixth inning and allowed only one hit.
In the seventh inning, Drew Smyly, who was very good as a reliever, took over. He was not good that day. A leadoff single was followed by a flyout, but two more hits gave Toronto a run to make it 3-1. And it could have been even worse if Amaya hadn’t thrown out George Springer at third base on a double steal attempt (VIDEO).
Then Porter Hodge came in and flew Guerrero to center, ending the inning.
The Cubs tried to extend their lead in the seventh inning. With one out, PCA managed a walk and Amaya reached base on an error.
Happ then attempted a safety squeeze and… oh no, PCA! I don’t have video for you, but he was caught on a rundown and tagged out. It was ruled a “caught stealing,” PCA’s first of the season after 23 successful steals. That means the Cubs’ franchise record for most steals without being caught in an entire season remains at eight, held by Moises Alou (2002) and Bill Nicholson (1942). (That’s a good trivia question for you.)
Hodge allowed a couple of Jays baserunners in the eighth inning, but finished the inning scoreless and the Cubs lost 1-2-3 at the end of the inning.
And then Lopez. You’ve already read about the home run, and that’s where we started this recap. But then Lopez struck out the team and secured the win with a K from Guerrero (VIDEO).
I’m not sure if you can tell in this clip, but it started raining AGAIN just as game 9 was getting underway, and it actually rained pretty heavily for a few minutes, but at that point there was no way to stop the game.
If you want to open the door to the Grievance Department regarding Counsell’s decision to promote Steele, I suggest you watch this first (VIDEO).
The bullpen did a good job: seven innings, seven hits, two runs, seven strikeouts. It worked, so… at least the complaints department is closed for that. The Cubs’ record in one-run games, which isn’t exactly great, improved to 19-25 with this win.
So the Cubs have a chance to win this series on Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field, where it… probably won’t rain. Shōta Imanaga starts for the Cubs and hopefully can get deep into the game to save the bullpen. Bowden Francis will start for Toronto. Game time is again at 1:20 p.m. CT and the TV broadcast will be on Marquee Sports Network.
