Morel's Big Blast Powers Chicago Cubs to Victory over Phillies
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Christopher Morel hates the Philadelphia Phillies.
In five games against Philadelphia in this his rookie season, he's batting .500 with a 1.550 OPS. His home run on Wednesday evening was the biggest he'd hit so far against the Phillies.
The Chicago Cubs were in a 1-0 hole after noted speedster Kyle Schwarber made his way around the bases. The former-Cub was hit by a pitch, then advanced to second on a single, stole third, and scored on a sacrifice fly.
The Phillies had a serious lack of offense in their four previous games against the Cubs, but with a 1-0 lead it seemed like they might be getting back on track with Aaron Nola on the mound, cruising through four innings.
All of a sudden, things Chicago bats awakened in the fifth. Two singles then an RBI groundout from Yan Gomes forced in the tying run before a hit by pitch put two runners on for Morel. He worked a 3-2 count with runners on first and second and crushed the sixth pitch of the at-bat deep to left field for a three-run home run.
That inning put the Cubs on top, giving them a lead they would never relinquish.
Meanwhile, Chicago-starter Hayden Wesneski had taken care of a vaunted Phillies lineup.
Through five innings he forced Philadelphia hitters into groundouts and flyouts, only seldom using his wicked slider to work a strikeout. After Morel's home run he exited the game, having surrendered one run on six hits and three strikeouts.
In his absence, the Cubs bullpen was unusually effective. Mark Leiter Jr. yielded the lone run of four Chicago-relievers, and even it only came on an RBI groundout from Bryce Harper.
The Phillies had threatened in the seventh, but the was the only run they were able to move across the plate after a leadoff double from Schwarber was followed by a single from Hoskins.
The backend trio of Adbert Alzolay, Brandon Hughes and Manuel Rodríguez closed out the game without incident, bringing the Cubs one game closer to a six game series sweep of the Phillies.
Thursday at 2:20 p.m. CDT they will go for that feat, with Javier Assad on the mound opposed by Ranger Suárez.
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