Luka, Giannis To Square Off In Olympic Qualifying
CHICAGO -- — Ian Happ hit three-run homers from both sides of the plate for a career-high six RBI, and the struggling Chicago Cubs pounded the major league-leading Philadelphia Phillies 10-2 to avoid a three-game sweep on Thursday.
The Cubs came into the season expecting to contend for the NL Central championship. Instead, they're last in the division. But they gave the Wrigley Field crowd of 40,143 plenty to cheer on July Fourth.
“We know how much this fan base expects and how much they deserve,” Happ said. “They come out every single day no matter what. They deserve a really good baseball team, and I think we all in this clubhouse believe that we have that in the tank. It’s been a tough stretch. But you have a game like today where you put up 10 and feel really good about it, let’s see if we can keep that rolling.”
Chicago trailed 2-0 when Happ connected from the right side against starter Cristopher Sánchez during a five-run fourth inning. Happ struck again batting left-handed in the fifth against Seranthony Domínguez, making it 8-2 and giving him 14 career multi-homer games.
It was the second time Happ went deep from both sides of the plate. He also singled and doubled to finish 4 for 4.
Happ got off to a slow start this season. But over 35 games since May 26, he is second in the majors with 36 RBI.
“You're going to have times when things don't feel right," he said. “When the wind's blowing in, you're hitting things straight into the wind or you're striking out. Part of that is believing that you're going to hit one of those hot streaks and get back on track. For me personally, that was early in the year. The first six weeks were a struggle and really difficult and challenging, and believing that I was going to get to that place where I right the ship.”
Jameson Taillon (5-4) pitched seven innings, allowing two runs and four hits. The right-hander struck out seven and walked none.
Seiya Suzuki scored three times and the Cubs came away with an easy win after dropping eight of 10. They also stopped a seven-game losing streak against the Phillies dating to last season.
Philadelphia’s Brandon Marsh singled home a run in the first. Nick Castellanos made it 2-0 in the fourth with a rocket to left-center for his 12th home run, but Sánchez (6-4) simply didn’t have it coming off a shutout against Miami last week and his first career complete game.
The left-hander got tagged for seven runs and seven hits after going 3-0 with a 0.39 ERA in his previous three starts. He exited with none out in the fifth after Cody Bellinger and Suzuki singled.
Happ broke open the game when he greeted Domínguez with a drive to right for his 13th homer. He became the first Cubs player to connect from both sides since Victor Caratini in a loss at Pittsburgh on July 3, 2019.
“Ian had some huge swings,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We got men on base in front of him for those swings. Two three-run homers puts a smile on everybody's face, for sure.”
TRAINER'S ROOM
Cubs: RHP Mark Leiter Jr. (strained forearm) will likely face hitters within the next few days, assuming no setbacks following his bullpen session on Wednesday, pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said. Hottovy had not spoken to Leiter. ... Hottovy said RHP Yency Almonte (strained right shoulder) will probably decide “in the next day or so” between surgery or a strengthening program. Almonte has been out since May 7.
UP NEXT
Phillies: RHP Aaron Nola (9-4, 3.43 ERA) gets the ball Friday as the Phillies open a three-game series at Atlanta, while the Braves go with LHP Max Fried (7-3, 2.91). Nola is coming off a loss to Miami in which he gave up three runs in 6 2/3 innings. Fried has a 1.56 ERA in his past three starts.
Cubs: Open a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels, with LHP Justin Steele (0-3, 3.20 ERA) starting for Chicago. Steele went six innings and allowed three runs in the Cubs' win at Milwaukee on Saturday.
------
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Maxresdefault Capture D E Cran 2023 01 17 A 13 17 493 Romqef Detection Courbevoie Rn Mar82024 Compliance Lp Map Lang Modules Vulnerabilities1 FLYER AFE DETECTION SAISON 2022 2023 977db6b3 Eb89 4d04 9e86 017695463c6a 1024x682 Current Exclusion Limits And Regions Of Interest Of Dark Matter Searches For D476b4d90a3abba2be73621aefd0a874 Showimg.php?filename=oo 688143 Cluster Markers Filter 1024x466 Pcm 2022 05 19 164609 Spatial Maps Of Projected Changes 2020 2059 Minus 1980 To 2019 In The Magnitude Of P95 Map Of The DE Computed By The Model For The 22 Sensor Hybrid LDN The Grid Resolution Is.ppmMapr V Ctd 800 9f15fd4fdb037c23d98047faba25d1c98eb1a1e1 1*XADllA5jNVG8ACw Z6r1KQ 17 10 16 DCMS MIP Coverage Map Large 592c6484 4102 4bde A5a3 C44373cb8ab1 ?v=1497642639281990964 1697827167219251 5387807733107776191 N Tweetmap Satellite Imagery Derived Chl A Maps And B Bp Index Green Maps A B K Mikimotoi Rfbird 1pp Gcm3hi 3000 Global Presence Map Crr Map Of Expected Number Of ML 4 Events In The Week Following 0000 Of 06 04 09 Estimated Screen Shot 2022 07 12 At 11.30.50 AM Maps Of Results From Three Of The New Technologies From The Same Location A RDM Predicted Map Of EC DS M 1 Using MLR Model Map Showing The Locations Of The Sampling Sites For PM 25 Blue Points PM 10 Red Map Depicting Spatial Prediction Raster Of MDI In 30 Meter Resolution Adjusted For Change Detection Map Of The Emerged Areas In Front Of N Zeelim Based On Comparison Of Mlab Server Map Map Of The Bias Between The Simulated Discharge When The CML Network Provides Perfect.ppmLSML Cu Ppm Graddient Map 2022 08 08 3 Change Detection Map From 2000 To 2020