Game One Hundred Eleven – Cubs 5, Angels 1
WP – John Lackey (9-7) LP – Jered Weaver (8-9) Save – None
John Lackey had a terrific outing and surrendered just one run in eight innings. Willson Contreras tied the game in the third with a solo homer. Ben Zobrist doubled in Anthony Rizzo with the go ahead run in the fourth. Kris Bryant hit a towering blast onto Waveland in the fifth. The Cubs beat the Angels on Tuesday night at the old ballyard in a game that took only two hours and 22 minutes to complete.
John Lackey was sharp, found a rhythm and worked well with Willson Contreras. The defense made all the plays behind Lackey. And the Cubs won their eighth straight game which matches the longest winning streak of the season (May 2-10).
John Lackey made one mistake in eight innings. Lackey served up a solo home run to Kole Calhoun in the first inning and that was all for the Angels offense. Lackey struck out six, all looking. Lackey and Pedro Strop combined on seven strikeouts Tuesday, all were called third strikes.
Lackey surrendered just three hits on the night. Lackey’s fastball command was very good but the difference Tuesday was his slider and change-up. Lackey struck out six, walked one and made 102 pitches, 66 for strikes, in eight innings.
The Cubs didn’t do much against Jered Weaver the first time through the lineup. But the offense started timing him up in the third inning and tied the game.
Willson Contreras (1-for-3 with a home run) led off the third with a homer into the bleachers in left center. Contreras’ first longball since July 4 tied the game at one. Jered Weaver retired John Lackey, Dexter Fowler (0-for-4) and Kris Bryant (1-for-4 with a home run) in order to end the inning.
Anthony Rizzo (2-for-3 with two doubles, a walk and two runs scored) started the fourth with a double off the base of the ivy in right field. Ben Zobrist (1-for-3 with a double, a walk, a run scored and a RBI) doubled to right. Rizzo scored and the Cubs took a 2-1 lead. Jorge Soler (2-for-4) ripped a single to left. The ball was hit too hard for Zobrist to score. With runners on the corners and no outs, Jason Heyward (1-for-4) popped out to second base.
Addison Russell (0-for-2 with a sac fly RBI) picked up Heyward. Russell flied out to center, Zobrist tagged and scored, 3-1 Cubs. Contreras lined out to Pennington at second base to end the inning.
The Cubs went back to work against Weaver in the fifth. And the scoring all started after two were out.
Kris Bryant obliterated Weaver’s first pitch. The ball ended up on Waveland and the Cubs took a 4-1 lead on Bryant’s 28th dinger of the season.
Anthony Rizzo followed Bryant’s blast with his second double of the night. Zobrist walked and put two on with two down.
Jorge Soler reached on an infield single. Soler placed the slow roller perfectly between the mound and first base. Weaver did not know whether to try to field the ball of cover first base. Albert Pujols picked it up and tossed to Weaver. Soler hustled down the line and was safe. Weaver dropped the ball and Rizzo scored on the error, 5-1 Cubs. Heyward went down swinging with runners on the corners to end the inning.
The Cubs did not tack on against the Angels’ bullpen, but didn’t need to. John Lackey pitched against a struggling Angels team the way he should.
The Cubs managed five runs on eight hits and two walks. The Cubs were 3-for-5 with RISP and left four on base.
With Tuesday’s win, the Cubs improved to 70-41 on the season.
Jason Hammel is scheduled to face Ricky Nolasco on Wednesday night (7:05pm CDT) in the finale of the two-game series with the Angels.