The Friendly Confines had not been a very welcoming hitter environment for Kyle Tucker lately.
Although the Chicago Cubs’ right fielder looked better at the plate during their nine-game road trip, Tucker had not homered at Wrigley Field since July 19. That finally changed Tuesday against the Atlanta Braves when Tucker slugged a go-ahead three-run homer off left-hander Joey Wentz in the third inning.
The Cubs’ four runs in the third held in a 4-3 victory. The Braves chipped away at the lead, tallying two runs in the fourth and one in the fifth, but that was all starter Shota Imanaga allowed in six innings. Daniel Palencia forced Eli White to fly out with runners on the corners to end the game.
Tucker departed the game after the sixth inning due to left calf tightness. Willi Castro took over in right field to start the seventh. Tucker was seen chatting with Cubs trainers along the dugout railing during a Braves pitching change in the bottom of the fifth. He had just reached base on a single.
Despite being banged up for stretches this season, Tucker came into Tuesday having appeared in all but six games this season. He jammed a finger on his right hand on a slide June 1 and missed one game, though it was later revealed the 28-year-old impending free agent had also sustained a hairline fracture on that sequence, yet kept playing through it. The impact from those injuries, possibly from making slight adjustments to avoid aggravating his finger and hand, cropped up in July and August when he saw a significant decrease in his power numbers.
Tucker’s three-run home run produced just his fourth multi-RBI game since the beginning of July, a stretch of 50 games.