RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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I don’t really like putting photos of Cubs opponents as the lead image on these recaps, but as I did after Thursday’s game in Washington , I felt I had to do that again for this one, even though it’s a Cardinal, because the story of this game is Joshua Baez, the top Cardinals prospect who made his MLB debut Saturday at Wrigley Field.
That’s quite the debut, Mr. Baez — three home runs in his first three MLB plate appearances. That’s never been done before by anyone, so at least those of us who saw the Cubs’ 8-4 loss to the Cardinals were witnesses to major league history, though not the sort of history we’d have liked.
I don’t really want to complain about Craig Counsell sitting Dansby Swanson for a day. Counsell is trying to get all his regulars some rest. But while Nico Hoerner and Pedro Ramirez are both good defenders, neither is quite as good at the position he was playing in this game. Nico’s a good shortstop but Swanson is better. Ramirez is a good second baseman but Nico is better.
And thus, the Cubs couldn’t turn a double play in the first inning that would have ended that inning with no scoring. Instead, a run scored on the second force play to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead. That brought up Baez, who otherwise would have led off the second inning.
Instead, he smashed Matthew Boyd’s first pitch for a 449-foot home run. Pretty impressive for a MLB debut, even though his power was known — 34 home runs in 103 games in Triple-A, and the Cardinals fans in the Wrigley Field crowd today cheered his name when lineups were introduced.
So the Cubs were down 3-0 before they came to bat, and then the first five Cubs were set down in order. Then Cardinals third baseman Blaze Jordan booted Nico’s grounder with two out in the bottom of the second, and Ramirez followed with a double, with Nico stopping at third.
Both scored on this three-run homer by Michael Conforto [VIDEO] .
Your browser does not support the video tag. Okay, that’s good! The game is tied. More from BCB’s JohnW53:
Until Michael Conforto’s three-run homer, the Cubs had scored runs in just one of the previous 75 plate appearances, going back to the eighth inning Wednesday at Washington: Seiya Suzuki’s three-run homer in the sixth inning Friday. ….. Conforto’s was the Cubs’ 26th three-run homer of the season, most by any team. The Nationals and Yankees began the day with 22. The combined average of the 29 other teams was 16.
The Cubs hit 27 all of last season, which ranked seventh. The Mets and Red Sox tied for the most, with 30.
It remained that way until the top of the fourth, when Baez took Boyd deep again.
That was the third time any player had hit homers in his first two MLB plate appearances, and the others were also connected with St. Louis teams. Bob Nieman, a St. Louis Browns player, did it in 1951, and Keith McDonald did it for the Cardinals in 2000.
Boyd managed to hold the Cardinals down and keep it a one-run deficit until the top of the sixth, when he walked Alec Burleson to lead off the inning.
Now, I ask you: Why on Earth would you throw Baez anything near the plate? He’s already taken you deep twice, Matthew Boyd. Honestly, I think I just would have walked him. Instead, he smashed pitch 2 here for his third homer of the afternoon:
Okay, not right down the middle, but still.
So it’s 6-3 Cardinals now and two batters later, Boyd served up his fourth home-run ball of the day to Jordan and his day was done. Boyd’s been so good lately that I think we can forgive him one clunker of a start.
Today’s start was Matthew Boyd’s 46th as a Cub and 214th of his 12-season career. It was the third in which he allowed four home runs. The first two were Aug. 13 and 31, 2019, as a Tiger. He never has given up five.
Two previous Cubs served up at least four this year: Jameson Taillon, five, on the South Side vs. the White Sox on May 16, and Shota Imanaga, four, at home vs. the Athletics on June 4.
The Cubs were going down in order, with just one walk in the fifth and sixth, and also Miguel Amaya hit into a pair of double plays, in the fourth and seventh. The Cardinals added one more homer, by Burleson off Colin Rea in the eighth, and the Cubs did make an attempt to come back in the bottom of the inning. Seiya Suzuki led off with a double and Michael Busch singled, with Suzuki stopping at third.
Suzuki scored, but it was on a double-play ball by Alex Bregman [VIDEO].
Your browser does not support the video tag. So that ended that rally, and the Cubs went down 1-2-3 in the ninth to end the game.
Props to Baez, that is an impressive accomplishment for your first MLB game. Baez drove in five runs, which means the MLB record for RBI in a debut game still belongs to Starlin Castro, who drove in six in his debut for the Cubs May 7, 2010 .
One more note from John:
This was the third game of the year in which the Cubs surrendered at least five homers. The first was five, on May 16, in an 8-3 loss at the White Sox. The second was seven, in an 18-3 drubbing at home by the Giants.
Fortunately, this game only counts as one loss and the Cubs still have a chance to meatloaf this series Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Edward Cabrera will be activated from the injured list and make the start for the Cubs, and the Cardinals will counter with right-hander Hunter Dobbins. Game time Sunday — and note, it’s different! — is 2:15 p.m. CT. That’s because this game is being nationally televised on ABC (no blackouts) and also streamed on the ESPN App. The BCB game preview will post at 12 noon CT.
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