Game Recap: Shaw walks it off as Cubs sweep Guardians in extras |
Dustin Riese
· · 4 hours ago
CHICAGO - It didn't always come easy, but the Chicago Cubs (52-35) capped off a three-game sweep of the Cleveland Guardians (40-45) at Wrigley Field in what was a perfect start for what is a crucial month of this team. Sometimes all it takes is one run, and that was the case in this one as Matt Shaw connected for a walk-off sacrifice fly off Emmanuel Clase in the bottom of the 10th to lift the Cubs to the 1-0 win in extras.
The win not only moves the Cubs back to four games up on Milwaukee, but it also puts them back at a season-high 17 games above .500 as this team continues to get it done. One of the big stories, if not the main story in this one, was what happened prior to the game as Luis Ortiz was scheduled to start, only to be put on unpaid leave due to an ongoing gambling investigation. That meant the Guardians would have to piece together a makeshift bullpen game, with Joey Cantillo getting the ball. Although he wasn't perfect with three walks and five strikeouts, Cantillo did a great job keeping the Cubs offense in check as he allowed two hits in 3 1/3 scoreless innings. Then you have the story of the day from the Cubs side of things as Cade Horton went out and dominated to pitch the best outing of his professional career thus far. Oddly enough, his best outing came after his worst outing, which was great to see, as the Cubs wanted to see how he would bounce back from his rough start. Not only did he bounce back, but with seven shutout innings, Horton gave the Cubs his longest start of the season as he walked two and struck out five. Reese McGuire deserves some of the credit for this start, as well, as he gunned down not one, not two, but three would-be base stealers in the game, which helped Horton keep the Guardians off the board. Anytime the Guardians seemed to have the momentum, including the first inning after Steven Kwan led things off with a single, McGuire was there to extinguish the fire, as he had one of the best games behind the plate this defense has seen from a defensive standpoint. Anytime you come away with only three hits in a game, you don't have many scoring chances to capitalize on, and the Cubs didn't have many in this one. Two of their better scoring chances came in consecutive innings with a pair of two-out walks to Ian Happ and Kyle Tucker set the Cubs up in the third only to come away empty. The same can be said about the fourth inning as Dansby Swanson picked up the Cubs first hit of the game before advancing to second on the Nico Hoerner walk, only to have the offense come away empty yet again. The best scoring chance of the day for the Guardians came in the fifth inning, and it also came with two outs as Daniel Schneeman and Bo Naylor delivered a pair of singles to put runners on the corners. Once again, it was McGuire taking care of the rest as he gunned down Naylor at second to get Horton out of another inning. Horton went on to allow two more singles the rest of the way before getting through the seventh inning for the first time and putting this game in the hands of the Cubs bullpen. Even with Brad Keller and Daniel Palencia, both unavailable, the Cubs had plenty of options to turn to, with Drew Pomeranz and Ryan Brasier taking care of the eight before Ryan Pressly wrapped up a scoreless ninth. You can say the same thing about the Guardians and their pen as they went pitch for pitch with the Cubs, as the Cubs saw the best the Guardians had to offer in Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, and Clase. Had it not been for Swanson, who had two of the Cubs three hits, those three would've been perfect in their three innings of work up to that point, but they still managed to keep the Cubs off the board as this game was headed to extras. Whatever the Cubs did with Chris Flexen this offseason, it has worked in their favor, as he is becoming Mr. Extra Inning for this team. Entering the game with a 4-0 mark and a 0.68 ERA, Flexen has been far more than what the Cubs could've ever expected, and with a perfect 10th inning, Flexen put himself in line for the win as the Cubs were coming to bat. With Clase on for his second inning of work, things weren't going to be easy, but Hoerner being aggressive on a Michael Busch grounder to get to third, the Cubs were one sacrifice fly away from winning this game. That set the tone for Shaw, who only needed two pitches to come through as he took Clase to the warning track in right-center field to deliver the walk-off sacrifice fly for the Cubs. This was a win that the Cubs desperately needed as they gained some much-needed separation in the division after things started to tighten up. Swanson led the Cubs with three hits, with Seiya Suzuki grabbing the other. Next up for Chicago is a three-game set with the Cardinals beginning Friday Afternoon, as Miles Mikolas is set to take the mound against Colin Rea. The Cardinals are coming off a three-game series against the Pirates, where they were not only swept but also failed to score a single run throughout the entire series. That alone has this series set up to be a trap series, as the Cubs can't take this team lightly.
