The Chicago Cubs went into Los Angeles this weekend and won two out of three against the Dodgers and really should have swept their NL West foes. But hey, Cubs fans also have to give a big shoutout to home plate umpire Sean Barber because he definitely changed the complexion of the ninth inning during Sunday’s game, when the Cubs were holding on to a 3-2 lead.
Right-handed reliever Michael Fulmer pitched a scoreless eighth inning after he blew a save on Saturday. Fulmer was set to pitch the ninth on Sunday, but Cubs manager David Ross opted to bring in veteran reliever Brad Boxberger after David Peralta was announced as the pinch hitter to begin the ninth inning.
Peralta had the game-winning, walk-off hit against Fulmer Saturday night.
Anyway, Boxberger got to a 2-2 count against Peralta and then threw a fastball to the outside corner. It was close enough for Barber, who rung up Peralta for the first out in the bottom of the ninth inning.
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Then, former Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward stepped up to the plate and he got ahead 3-1 against Boxberger. Heyward did not swing at the next two pitches that were out of the strike zone, but once again the pitches were good enough for the home plate umpire and Heyward was called out on strikes.
Sunday’s win could have ended on a superb defensive play by shortstop Dansby Swanson, who made a slick play to field a hard-hit ball, deep in the hole. Swanson fielded the grounder cleanly and made a good throw to first base that beat Mookie Betts, but Trey Mancini couldn’t come up with the ball to record the out.
Clinging to a one-run lead with two outs, left-handed hitter Freddie Freeman stepped up to the plate, representing the go-ahead run. Boxberger generated two whiffs on his slider to get ahead in the count 0-2 and then Freeman struck out looking on another ball that definitely looked to be out of the strike zone.
Yan Gomes framing baby!
What’s hilarious, at least for Cubs fans, is that in the eighth inning there was a horrible missed strike three call from the home plate umpire when Fulmer was pitching to Miguel Vargas that pissed off every Cubs fan watching.
But after the bottom of the ninth inning, we’ll call it even to say the least.
Huge win for the Cubs after the heart-breaking blown save Saturday night.
It was especially a good win because the Cubs were able to get to Dodgers star lefty Julio Urías, as Patrick Wisdom and Cody Bellinger hit back-to-back home runs to knock him out of the game with two outs in the sixth inning. Those two homers gave the Cubs a 3-1 lead and they were just enough to beat the Dodgers on Sunday.
Wisdom hit a home run in all three games in Los Angeles this weekend.
Meanwhile, Bellinger is still on a roll since the Cubs opening series against the Milwaukee Brewers. Bellinger began the season 0-for-11, but he now has a slash line of .245/.317/.453, with three home runs and nine RBI in his last 11 games.
The Cubs starting rotation was great the entire series against the Dodgers and that continued on Sunday with Drew Smyly. The lefty only allowed one run in 5.2 innings.
Finally, Mark Leiter Jr. keeps getting it done against left-handed hitters. After the Dodgers cut it to 3-2 in the seventh inning, when Seiya Suzuki lost a ball in the sun, Ross called on Leiter Jr. to face Freeman with runners on first and second and only one out. The right-handed pitcher struck out Freeman and after an infield single that loaded the bases, Leiter Jr. struck out Max Muncy.
The Cubs are now 8-6 and will start a three-game series against the Oakland A’s on Monday.
