Bulls News: Game Recap: Happ delivers in extras for Father's Day walk-off |
Dustin Riese
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- 22 hours ago
CHICAGO - There are three things you can count on in life. Death, Taxes, and Ian Happ delivering against the Pittsburgh Pirates (29-44). The Chicago Cubs (44-28) left fielder has made a living off of the Pirates and has reached base at least once in 62 of the last 63 games against them.
Needing a massive hit in the worst way, Happ came up to bat in extras with the chance to give the Wrigley Field crowd a happy send-off on Father's Day. As expected, Happ didn't disappoint as he came through for another massive blow against the Pirates and delivered the walk-off single to give the Cubs a 3-2 Father's Day victory. For a team that has been struggling as much as the Cubs have been offensively as of late, seeing guys like Kyle Tucker, Matt Shaw, and Carson Kelly out of the lineup the day before an off day was a bit puzzling. According to Craig Counsell, the plan was for these players to get an extra day off, as the Cubs had an off day on Monday, and it just happened to work out that they all had the day off on Sunday. That put even more pressure on a struggling lineup to get the job done against Mitch Keller, who, despite a 1-9 record, came into the game with a very respectable ERA. Opposing him was the right-hander Colin Rea, who was looking for a bounce-back start after putting together three consecutive rough outings. Bounce back, it was for the right-hander as he gave the Cubs six strong innings of two-run baseball, walking one and striking out four. As good as Rea has been at times this season, the first inning has been a struggle for him, and Sunday was no different, as both of the earned runs Rea allowed came in the first to give the Pirates an early lead. Anytime you allow two of the first three hitters to reach, you are already putting yourself in a massive hole, as Oneil Cruz and Nick Gonzalez came through with a pair of singles to set the Pirates' offense up. Immediately following the Gonzalez single was a third single from Spencer Horowitz to bring home the game's first run, with Alexander Canario tacking on an RBI groundout shortly after to make this a 2-0 game. Not only was that in terms of the Pirates' offense, but they had just one hit the rest of the day after picking up three hits in the first, as the Cubs' pitching continued to do its job. With Rea struggling yet again in the first, the Cubs' offense knew they needed to pick up the slack against a guy in Keller who has had a lot of success against this team in the past. Anytime you can put the leadoff man on base to start an inning, you have to like the direction things are trending, as Happ led things off with a walk before reaching second base on a steal. Two batters later, it was the Cubs pulling within 2-1 as Seiya Suzuki drove home Happ on an RBI groundout. That was just the start of what was a big two-out rally as Michael Busch kept the line moving with a double before coming home on a Dansby Swanson single that brought things back to even 2-2. As was the case with the Pirates and their offense, the Cubs' bats went silent for the majority of the game, managing only four hits for the rest of the way. Keller got through six innings, allowing those two runs, with three strikeouts. With both pitchers out of the game after six, this was going to come down to the bullpens, and no bullpen has been better than the Cubs since the start of May. Whether it be Caleb Thielbar, Genesis Cabrera, Ryan Pressly, or Chris Flexen, the results were the same as those four combined to throw four no-hit innings, making it challenging for the Pirates to generate much of a scoring chance after the first inning. With the Cubs being held in check after the first, they had a chance to win in regulation as a two-out single from Swanson put the winning run on base, and arguably the Cubs' best clutch hitter, Nico Hoerner, came to bat. Although Hoerner didn't drive Swanson home, he did come up clutch as his double moved Swanson to third and set the Cubs up with a chance to win, only to come away empty. Hoerner played a massive role on both sides of the ball late as he turned around to make a game-saving diving catch in the top of the 10th to keep things tied for the Cubs late. It was that play that seemed to kill all of the momentum the Pirates had as Happ strolled to the plate before lacing an RBI single off David Bednar to right to seal the deal in the Cubs' walk-off 3-2 win. HAPP-Y FATHER'S DAY WALK OFF! pic.twitter.com/DPSskUIuU7 The win not only clinched another series for the Cubs, but it also moves them back to a season high 16 games above .500 as they continue to find ways to win despite struggling offensively. Chicago will now enjoy a much-needed day off after 13 straight games, before closing out the month of June with 13 straight games without an off day.
