Michael Busch, Cubs look to feast on Cards' pitching in finale
"I'll say it again: This is a good offense," Counsell said after the Cubs lost 5-0 to the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday. "We're going to score runs."
Chicago did just that on Saturday night in a 9-1 rout of St. Louis. The Cubs will try to build off that breakthrough on Sunday night when they finish their three-game weekend road series against the Cardinals.
The Cubs scored three runs or fewer on six occasions during a nine-game span before Saturday's uprising.
Michael Busch has punished Cardinals pitching all season, going 15-for-34 with six homers, 12 runs and 11 RBIs. Many Cubs joined him on Saturday, including Matt Shaw (2-for-3, homer, two runs, two RBIs), Carson Kelly (3-for-4, RBI), Dansby Swanson (3-for-4, stolen base, two runs) and Kyle Tucker (1-for-4, walk, two runs, RBI).
"A multiple-run first inning, which I felt was just good, we haven't been doing that a lot lately," Counsell said of the two-run inning. "We played really good offense, hit a bunch of balls hard tonight, and put a big run number up."
The Cubs on Sunday will start left-hander Shota Imanaga (8-4, 3.12 ERA), who is trying to sustain a late-season turnaround.
Imanaga struggled during his last two starts in July while allowing 10 runs on 17 hits -- including five homers -- in just eight innings. He got back on track on Tuesday while holding the Cincinnati Reds to one run on three hits in 6 1/3 innings while striking out seven and walking none. The Cubs lost 5-1.
Imanaga earned a 3-0 victory over the Cardinals on June 26, blanking them for five innings on one hit and one walk while striking out three. He is is 2-0 with a 2.41 ERA in three career starts against St. Louis.
The Cardinals will counter on Sunday with right-hander Sonny Gray (10-5, 4.21 ERA), who also is trying to sustain a turnaround.
Gray delivered his best performance since June in his last start. He held the Dodgers to one run on one hit -- a Freddie Freeman homer -- in seven innings on Monday in Los Angeles. He struck out eight and walked one as St. Louis won 3-2.
Gray re-established his sweeper against the Dodgers.
"I knew it was sharp when Shohei (Ohtani) swung at it as the first batter of the game, but I also set it up pretty well because I got the ball to his hands so that his hips were moving earlier," Gray told MLB.com. "But when I threw that first one to (Ohtani) and he swung at it, I knew that was a good thing. Then, when Freddie did it as well, it was executed.
"Then I felt more comfortable in those moments because I was executing, and I had done the work to force them to swing."
Cardinals utility player Brendan Donovan is questionable for Sunday's game. He was a late scratch from the lineup Saturday night due to left groin tightness.
--Field Level Media
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
2 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Stephen A. Smith reveals his true thoughts on LeBron James in wake of ugly public feud
Stephen A. Smith insists his relationship with LeBron James has deteriorated to the point that he would be happy never to speak to the NBA legend again. Back in March, cameras caught James and the ESPN personality in a heated confrontation during the Los Angeles Lakers' matchup against Smith's beloved New York Knicks. Smith later revealed that James had taken issue with remarks he made about his son, Bronny. They then continued their war of words, with the ESPN star accusing the Lakers star of being a 'liar' and a 'bully'. He even claimed: 'Had that man put his hands on me, I would have immediately swung on him' LeBron, meanwhile, went on The Pat McAfee Show, and mocked Smith for repeatedly discussing their feud. 'He is on a Taylor Swift tour run right now,' James joked. Now, nearly six months on, Smith insists he and James have 'no relationship'. 'He doesn't like me, and I don't like him... if I never, ever speak to him again in life, that will be OK. And I'm good with it,' Smith said Friday on the Gil's Arena livestream. 'There's nobody that can mediate.' He continued: 'All I would say is people don't know the things that have happened behind the scenes... things that have been said, who they've been said to. The kind of things that have been engaged in in an effort to hurt me, along with contemporaries and others.' Smith insisted there is 'a lot of s***' he doesn't say and that 'there's a reason that I feel the way that I do.' 'And the last straw was him approaching me and turning the Bronny thing into something about me attacking somebody's family, when it was him I was talking about. Not Bronny,' the ESPN star continued. The analyst has always maintained that the four-time NBA champion misconstrued his comments about his son. 'And then to go on The Pat McAfee Show, which comes directly on after my show, on the channel that I work on. To insult me. Now, people can get into all kind of components that go into it and all that other stuff. I have nothing to say,' continued Smith, who suggested he would now only discuss James when he has to. 'I'm never going to denigrate any employer, any partner, or myself by getting into anything excessively, unnecessarily, when it comes to him or anybody else,' the ESPN star explained. 'I'm going to do my job. I'm going to cover the game of basketball.'
Reuters
2 minutes ago
- Reuters
Brewers escape 7-run hole, stun Reds for 13th straight win
August 16 - Christian Yelich belted two homers as part of a four-hit day -- falling a triple shy of the cycle -- and drove in five runs as the visiting Milwaukee Brewers rallied from an early seven-run deficit to stun the Cincinnati Reds 10-8 on Friday. The win was Milwaukee's 13th straight as the Brewers matched their franchise-best run set in 1987. The stunning comeback was Milwaukee's 28th win in 32 games, increasing the best record in the majors to 77-44. Facing reliever Scott Barlow (6-1) in the sixth inning, Yelich gave Milwaukee its first lead at 9-8 when he belted a solo homer to nearly the exact spot as his long ball in the second, giving him 25 for the season. Milwaukee has outscored its opponents 36-13 in the past three games, scoring in double figures each time. Nick Mears (4-3) pitched a perfect fifth for the win, and Trevor Megill struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 29th save in 32 chances. The Reds appeared on their way to a rout when they had nine straight batters reach with one out in the second inning en route to an 8-1 lead. From that point, the Brewers' bullpen retired the final 23 batters. Milwaukee right-hander Jacob Misiorowski struggled in his return from a stint on the 15-day injured list caused by a lower left leg contusion. The rookie All-Star right-hander lasted just 1 1/3 innings. In the opening frame, he allowed four hits yet just one run. He surrendered three straight hits to end the inning but was bailed out by a throw from center fielder Steward Berroa to nail Miguel Andujar at the plate. With one out in the second inning, Misiorowski hit Tyler Stephenson with a pitch, then walked three consecutive batters to force in a run. He was relieved by DL Hall, who was tagged with five straight hits, starting with a two-run double by Elly De La Cruz. Andujar, Gavin Lux, Ke'Bryan Hayes and Noelvi Marte followed with RBI singles. Milwaukee answered immediately in the third, scoring five times, with RBI doubles from Yelich and Brice Turang sandwiching Andrew Vaughn's three-run homer. Cincinnati starter Nick Martinez could not protect the seven-run lead, yielding six runs -- five earned -- on nine hits in 2 2/3 innings. --Field Level Media
Reuters
2 minutes ago
- Reuters
Orioles' Brandon Young, perfect through 7 2/3, beats Astros
August 16 - Rookie right-hander Brandon Young lost his bid for a perfect game with two outs in the eighth inning yet secured his first career victory as the visiting Baltimore Orioles rode home runs from Coby Mayo and Dylan Carlson to a 7-0 win over the Houston Astros on Friday. Young (1-6) needed only 74 pitches to retire the first 21 batters he faced in order. He had 10 groundball outs, seven flyouts and four strikeouts on his ledger entering the bottom of the eighth. Young opened that frame with a strikeout of Christian Walker before Yainer Diaz hit a long fly ball to right-center field that Daniel Johnson caught despite colliding with center fielder Greg Allen. Four outs shy of completing the first perfect game in club history, Young surrendered an infield single to Astros second baseman Ramon Urias, who was acquired from Baltimore at the trade deadline. Young fielded the squibbed grounder between the mound and third base but made a late throw that pulled Mayo off first base. Urias took second on the throwing error but was stranded there when Young fanned Taylor Trammell. Young allowed one hit and recorded six strikeouts while logging a career-high eight innings. Yaramil Hiraldo followed with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. Astros left-hander Framber Valdez (11-6) allowed four runs (three earned) on nine hits and one walk with six strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings. He took his first loss at home since April 2 against the San Francisco Giants. The Orioles broke through with two outs in the fourth inning when Mayo lined his fifth home run into the left field seats, snapping a scoreless tie. Baltimore scored twice an inning later after loading the bases with one out when Johnson and Jackson Holliday singled before Valdez walked Jordan Westburg. Gunnar Henderson followed with a sacrifice fly to left that scored both Johnson and Holliday, who came home when Jesus Sanchez unleashed an errant throw home. Henderson chased Valdez with a two-out single in the seventh that scored Westburg and upped the lead to 4-0. Carlson capped a three-run eighth inning with his fifth home run, a two-run shot off Astros reliever Shawn Dubin. --Field Level Media
