The Walk Off: Cubs win again and are off to best start since ’69
Welcome to The Walk Off, the nightly MLB recap from Big League Stew. Here we’ll look the top performers of the night, show you a must-see highlight and rundown the scoreboard. First, we start with a game you need to know about.
It’s safe to say there’s no early-season disappointment with the Chicago Cubs. And Thursday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds just reinforced that.
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The Cubs won their fifth straight game, beating the Reds 8-1 to complete a three-game sweep. The Cubs have the same record as the score — 8-1, which is their best start since 1969. That year, the Cubs won 11 of 12 games to start the season. Things didn’t end so well that season, of course, but that team didn’t have Kris Bryant and Addison Russell.
Bryant hit his second homer of the season while Russell had three hits and scored two runs. Cubs starter Jason Hammel threw six scoreless innings too.
Perhaps most impressive about these Cubs is just how forceful their wins have been. Their run differential is +43, by far the most in MLB. The Cardinals are +24 and nobody else is even in the 20s. Enjoy these additional factoids about the Cubs’ early-season onslaught:
These are all nice things.
TOP PERFORMERS
• Jaime Garcia: What’s the best-possible scenario for the St. Louis Cardinals and starter Jaime Garcia? Exactly what happened Thursday. Garcia threw a one-hit shutout and struck out 13 as the Cards beat the Brewers 7-0. He did it all in 104 pitches.
• Vince Velasquez: Get this: Garcia’s performance might not have even been the best of the day. Vince Velasquez, the 23-year-old Philadelphia Phillies starter, K’d 16 San Diego Padres while throwing a three-hitter that put him in the record books. The Phils won 3-0 and Velasquez went the distance, hitting 97 mph on his final pitch of the day.
• Ian Kennedy: We’ll end this trifecta of pitchers with Kennedy, the new Kansas City Royals starter, who kept the Houston Astros offense quite most of the night. In fact, he carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning. All told, he gave up two hits and one run while striking out seven as the Royals beat the Astros 6-2.
MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT
This is Bryce Harper’s 100th career homer and his first career grand slam. Nice, both of them. He’s also 23, so that’s important to note. One more thing: This gave the Washington Nationals enough offense to beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-2. The Braves, by the way, still haven’t won a game this season.
THE REST OF THE SCOREBOARD
• Los Angeles Dodgers 5, Arizona Diamondbacks 2: Dodgers score five in the seventh, as Ross Stripling throws six innings in his second MLB start.
• Detroit Tigers 7, Pittsburgh Pirates 4: New Detroit Tigers starter Jordan Zimmermann has yet to surrender a run with his new squad, including his Thursday start against the Pirates.
• Chicago White Sox 3, Minnesota Twins 1: The Twins have still won as many games as you this MLB season. Nada.
• Cleveland Indians 6, Tampa Bay Rays 0: The Indians hit three homers and rough up Rays ace Chris Archer.
• Colorado Rockies 11, San Francisco Giants 6: Matt Cain gave up the six runs in 4.2 innings, not getting out of Colorado’s nine-run fifth inning.
• Toronto Blue Jays 4, New York Yankees 2: Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki homered, while Marcus Stroman went eight strong innings.
• Texas Rangers 6, Baltimore Orioles 3: Rougned Odor lands the go-ahead double as the Rangers rally for five in the sixth inning to beat the O’s.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
