Cubs Take 2-0 Series Lead With Help of the Bullpen's Arms/Bats
Kyle Hendricks pitching in 2015
The Chicago Cubs faced the San Francisco Giants last night at Wrigley Field in game 2 of the NLDS. The starters for this game were the Cub's MLB ERA leader Kyle Hendricks with a 2.13 ERA and the Giant’s Jeff Samardzija with a 3.81 ERA. The Cubs were able to get the big right hander out of the game just after two innings as Ben Zobrist had an RBI single in the first, and in the second with the help of Kyle Hendrick's 2 run single and Kris Bryant's RBI single scoring Willson Contreras which put on 3 more. Hendricks’ day came to a halt after taking a line drive off the forearm hit by Angel Pagan. This looked to be a blow for the Cubs but the bullpen did its job and more. In the bottom of the fourth inning the Cubs’ Travis Wood (who replaced Hendricks) hit a solo home run off of George Kontos putting the cubs up 5-2. This was the first home run by a reliever in the postseason since 1924 (MLB.com). The Cubs cruised from there not allowing a single run. The game came to a close as Aroldis Chapman struck out Kelby Tomlinson swinging. Wrigley Field was ecstatic as Cub’s fans know that one more win will send the cubs to a second straight National League Championship Series. Before that can happen the Cubs will have a huge task as they send Jake Arrieta to the mound to face Madison Bumgarner in San Francisco tomorrow night. Bumgarner, with a 2.74 ERA, is arguably one of the best postseason pitchers in history, and he is coming off of a dominating performance of the New York Mets in the NL Wildcard game. The Giants have won 9 straight elimination games giving them a glimpse of hope (MLB.com). Arrieta, with a 3.10 ERA, had a shaky final start of the season and looks to bring his A game to the west coast where he always seems to shine. Watch the Cubs take on the Giants tomorrow night in game 3 of the NLDS.
