CHICAGO — Call it a comeback.
That’s what the Cubs did Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field, as an emphatic rally, capped by Nico Hoerner’s go-ahead two-out double in the seventh inning, sealed a 4-3 win and the series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Here’s what we learned as a big momentum swing sealed the deal and brought the Cubs (85-64) — whose magic number to clinch an NL wild-card spot stands at five — even closer to a coveted playoff berth.
How the tables turn …
The game looked to be slowly slipping away from the Cubs in the top of the seventh.
The Rays had runners on first and third with one out when Jake Mangum hit a sharp grounder to Hoerner. He flipped the ball to Dansby Swanson for the out at second, but the Cubs’ shortstop, slightly impeded by Josh Lowe, couldn’t throw the ball to first in time.
That meant the Rays led 4-2 late in a game in which the Cubs couldn’t string clutch hits together. However, Cubs manager Craig Counsell challenged the play at second, believing Lowe had interfered with Swanson by not sliding into the base.
The umpires deliberated, and the result was everything the Cubs needed: They ruled that Lowe did, in fact, interfere with the play, rendering both he and Mangum out to end the inning.
The major payoff came in the bottom half of the frame. Hoerner stepped to the plate with two outs and runners on first and second, as the Cubs threatened to finally break through after squandering many a rally throughout the game.
Hoerner, of course, delivered.
The Cubs’ ever-reliable second baseman ripped a 100-mph line drive down the left-field line. As the crowd of 37,186 roared, Willi Castro and Matt Shaw crossed home plate to give the Cubs a 4-3 lead, and hyped-up Hoerner yelled and pumped his fists before he even touched second.
Shota fights through it
Shota Imanaga hasn’t been able to replicate the success he achieved in his rookie season. The 32-year-old left-hander was a near-automatic win for the Cubs last year, registering a 15-3 record with a 2.91 ERA over 173.1 innings pitched. Opponents had a .225 batting average against him.
This year, teams are hitting just .211 against Imanaga, but one weakness has been exacerbated — the home run ball.
Imanaga allowed 27 homers in 29 starts last season. He entered Sunday’s start having already allowed 24 this year — through 43 fewer innings.
That number increased almost immediately when Rays leadoff hitter Yandy Diaz drilled Imanaga’s fourth pitch of the game 433 feet to give Tampa Bay a very early advantage.
Then Junior Caminero whacked his 44th homer of the season in the very next at-bat.
When the first inning was said and done, Imanaga had thrown 31 pitches, and the Cubs trailed 2-0. Imanaga appeared to settle in through the third inning, though, despite the Rays adding another run on a two-out squeeze that the lefty couldn’t cleanly field.
Imanaga managed to salvage his own start and last into the fifth, even after he had thrown 60-plus pitches through 2.1 frames. He started hitting his spots, leading to nine strikeouts through five innings.
Imanaga’s ERA now sits at 3.29 through 23 starts and 134 innings.
Mo magic
Moisés Ballesteros had quite the weekend back in the big leagues.
The 21-year-old started at designated hitter in all three games against the Rays, and he showed what he’s really made of as the Cubs’ No. 2 prospect.
On Friday, the 5-foot-8, 195-pound Ballesteros showed his speed when he roped a go-ahead RBI triple down the right field line in the third inning of the Cubs’ win. He had hit just two triples in his entire minor league career, making the 108.4-mph knock even more impressive.
Saturday was an even bigger day for Ballesteros. He hit his first big-league homer in the second inning — a solo shot to left-center — in a moment that instantly went viral. But it wasn’t because of Ballesteros himself (sorry, Moisés!). It was because he hit it straight to retirement honoree Anthony Rizzo, who was enjoying a game in the Wrigley Field bleachers for the first time. Rizzo did botch the one-handed catch, though, and made a hilarious comment after the fact.
In his third consecutive start Sunday, Ballesteros collected another hit to keep a rally going, though it was squandered when Castro grounded into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded. Ballesteros then knocked another single in the sixth for his second multi-hit game of the series. He worked a six-pitch walk in his final at-bat in the eighth.
Ballesteros now is 9-for-28 (.321) in his MLB career with eight RBI and a .942 OPS.
The Cubs now embark on their final road trip of the regular season — a seven-game swing to NL Central rivals Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.
Jameson Taillon (9-6, 4.15 ERA) is scheduled to take the ball against his former team in Monday night’s series opener, while the Pirates are set to send right-hander Braxton Ashcraft (4-2, 2.47 ERA) to the mound for a 5:40 p.m. CT first pitch. Coverage will begin at 4:30 p.m. CT on Marquee Sports Network.