CHICAGO — As the old local ballwriter’s book was titled, there is no cheering in the press box. But that doesn’t apply to people who don’t actually work here.
So if you heard someone yelp with delight from our Wrigley Field workspace Tuesday night as Alex Bregman banged a double off the ivy in the sixth inning, it was just the famous rapper Freddie Gibbs wearing a Ryne Sandberg jersey.
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Gibbs is a Gary, Ind., native who lives and dies with his Cubs and Bears and hates the Dodgers despite spending most of the year in Los Angeles. He simply couldn’t contain himself when Bregman sent Tarik Skubal’s fastball to right field, screaming and jumping with joy before realizing he committed a press box faux pas.
But who could blame him for briefly losing his mind? He’s a fan, and while we’re just days into August, it felt like a playoff game at Wrigley Field.
It was a matchup of two playoff-bound teams, but let’s not bury the lede anymore. It was also Skubal’s Dodgers debut after the deadline deal boo-hooed around the world. There were a lot of eyes on this game and perhaps some are now a little more wide open after the Cubs’ 5-1 victory in front of 40,584 fans.
Though the Cubs didn’t get the bold-faced name and the 99-mph four-seamer of Skubal, they had an impressive trade deadline of their own and were coming off a demonstrative 10-5 win over the Dodgers on Monday.
On Tuesday, the teams were locked in a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning when the game turned.
With all of his pitches humming, Skubal had retired eight in a row before a one-out walk to Seiya Suzuki. Then Bregman made him pay by doubling past a leaping Kyle Tucker at the wall. One out later, Bregman scored the go-ahead run on Nico Hoerner’s chopper that bounced off the plate and into the infield.
“I was looking to hit a ball hard, and yeah, it worked out well,” Hoerner said.
The Cubs (65-49) added two more runs in the seventh and Hoerner’s homer in the eighth to win the series and send the Dodgers (69-45) to their fifth straight loss.
After losing two of three against the Yankees to start this homestand, good vibes are back in Wrigleyville.
“It’s been a loaded homestand with Yankees, Dodgers, trade deadline, all in one homestand,” Hoerner said. “It’s been kind of a lot going on, a lot of exciting things, mainly positive things.”
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Yankees and Dodgers fans made pilgrimages to Wrigley, but the home crowd was dominant Tuesday, loudly booing Tucker, who left in free agency after one season with the club, for the second straight night and piling on Skubal, who was making his first start since being traded from Detroit.
Buzz, electricity, playoff atmosphere, whatever. Wrigley Field was the place to be Tuesday.
“I don’t want to say this is why we play, but I mean, come on, it’s kind of what you dream about as a kid,” shortstop Dansby Swanson said. “Two of the better teams in the league, two of the bigger names in the league, being able to go compete against each other in this atmosphere, nighttime at Wrigley with a ton of fans, that’s the thing you’re doing in the backyard when you’re a kid. It was pretty special.”
It was Swanson who got the Cubs on the board with a solo homer in the third inning. He swung at the first pitch from Skubal, a 97 mph four-seamer that he left over the plate. As Cubs manager Craig Counsell said, when you face a pitcher as nasty as Skubal, hitters have to sell out for the fastball and hope for the best.
“It’s so hard to sit here and say, I’m trying to do this or that,” Swanson said. “He’s been so good and dominant over the last few years, and I think everyone around the league, and himself, would say that he’s an aggressive pitcher, he comes after you. He likes to get strike one, he likes to get strike two. You just got to be ready to hit pitches that he may leave over the plate, and he doesn’t do that very often.”
There are no statement wins before school starts, but I think back to 2015, the season when the Cubs showed baseball they were for real, and it was in early August when they swept a four-game series from San Francisco at home and really took off.
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Of course, I also think back to the Tom Thibodeau-era Bulls and all of those regular-season wins I covered against LeBron James’ teams. In the postseason, the cream rises to the top. The Dodgers’ high-priced, high-powered roster is built for October, not August.
But Cubs president Jed Hoyer also fortified his pitching staff with four acquisitions at the deadline with the playoffs, and yes, the Dodgers, in mind.
“Clearly, they’re going to be the favorites, they won two times in a row,” Hoyer said Monday. “They’ve got the most talent in baseball. I don’t think there’s any question about that. It’s a great challenge for everybody. I think going back to back is an incredible accomplishment. And I totally respect the fact that they really pushed in to do it three times in a row. What an amazing thing to try to accomplish it. It’s our job and everyone else’s job to try and make that not happen.”
One of Hoyer’s new pitching additions, Ryan Zeferjahn, pitched a 1-2-3 eighth in his Cubs debut. He combined with three other relievers for 3 1/3 perfect innings. But it was holdover starting pitcher Javier Assad who dominated Tuesday, giving up one run on four hits in 5 2/3 innings. Assad was dealing against Shohei Ohtani and the formidable Dodgers lineup and dueling with Skubal.
“The story of the night was pitching, to me,” Counsell said. “We had some big hits for sure, but we pitched really, really well.”
Assad’s role going forward is up in the air. Newly acquired starters Kevin Gausman and Clay Holmes will go this weekend in Kansas City. But when it comes time for the postseason, Counsell’s preferred terminology for pitchers, “out-getters,” becomes more meaningful. Hoyer loaded up the staff, but Assad should have an important role.
So, of course, will Skubal with the Dodgers. That’s why they traded for him.
It’s nearly impossible to repeat as champions in any sport these days and to win three in a row is a laughable proposition for any team, except the Dodgers. They have the money and talent to pull it off, and as Hoyer said, it’s up to everyone else to stop them. The last two nights, the Cubs looked up to the task. They can only hope to see Skubal again in October.
