Cubs rally in Game 2 of twin bill, snap skid

CHICAGO -- When the baseball left David Bote's bat, there was a brief moment when the crowd noise being pumped into Wrigley Field remained at a soft hum. That allowed the immediate shouts of the players in the dugout to be heard.

They knew right away that Bote's sixth-inning shot in Game 2 of Monday's doubleheader against the Cardinals was gone. The blast, which soared into the center-field greenery, was a much-needed offensive lift in a much-welcomed 5-4 victory that sealed a split of the day's twin bill.

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"Putting that swing on the ball was beautiful," first baseman Anthony Rizzo said. "Really, it's a spark and it's energetic after a long day."

Bote's three-run pinch-hit shot off Cardinals reliever Tyler Webb capped a four-run outburst in the frame. Willson Contreras' RBI double three batters earlier was Chicago's first hit of the game and ended an 0-for-15 showing in a game in which the Cubs were hitting first.

In a strange season, this was a bizarre night, with Cardinals having the final at-bat due to Game 2 serving as a makeup for one of the teams' postponed games in St. Louis earlier this month. So of course the Cubs' rivals had three homers and a no-hitter going by the sixth.

"I had to keep reminding myself that we're the visitors," manager David Ross said, "because it definitely didn't feel like that."

The Cardinals dealt the Cubs a 3-1 loss in the opener, extending Chicago's losing streak to four games. The North Siders came up empty in a few potential rallies in that first game, continuing the club's recent offensive woes.

The Cubs stormed out of the 2020 gate with a prolific offensive performance (.849 team OPS in the first eight games), but they have slowed of late while waiting for the bats of such stars as Kris Bryant and Javier Báez to come to life. The 3-for-23 showing in Game 1 dropped the Cubs' slash line to .216/.314/.352 in a 12-game stretch.

The Cubs lost the previous four games by a combined total of five runs, so those losses were perhaps easier to shake off than the blowout variety. But some offensive flaws have surfaced. For example, Chicago's strikeout rate (27.9 percent) and contact rate (72.6 percent) ranked 30th and 25th, respectively, in the Majors going into Monday.

"I think we've been very consistent in having a plan and trying to stick to that," said Ross, whose team also led MLB in pitches per plate appearance (4.25) going into Monday's twin bill.

"The main thing that I would stress," he added, "is just continue to value the walk and taking a walk maybe when you're not seeing the ball too well, or maybe scuffling a little bit."

That mindset was on display in Game 2, when the Cubs drew six walks in the first five no-hit innings. In the first, three free passes pushed Rizzo to third base; he scored on a passed ball.

"We just kept grinding, kept grinding, kept putting the pressure on them," Bote said. "Guys kept getting on base. And then you've got the one hit to finally kind of put us through there and kind of put a stop to things."

Before Contreras' double off the base of the left-field wall in the sixth, the pressure Chicago had been feeling to break through manifested in an at-bat by slugger Kyle Schwarber. With a runner on first, Schwarber tried to beat the shift with a bunt with two strikes. He chopped the pitch foul and struck out.

"I'm fine with that," Ross said. "I encourage players to get outside the box and do things when they don't feel comfortable. I think, if you watch the two swings before, I don't think he was seeing the ball off that guy very well. So he tried to get outside the box and help his team.”

Contreras rendered the mistake moot with his extra-base hit to cut the Cardinals' lead to 4-2. Jason Heyward later drew a two-out walk, prompting Ross to call Bote off the bench as a pinch-hitter.

"He's done that a time or two," Rizzo said.

It was Bote who famously delivered an ultimate grand slam as a pinch-hitter against the Nationals on Aug. 12, 2018. This situation -- and the environment at Wrigley Field -- were dramatically different, but the result was similar. Bote hammered a 1-0 four-seamer out, and set off a celebration in the dugout.

Schwarber hurdled the dugout railing and threw a fist to the sky. Bote rounded second, and his jumping and howling teammates came into view. The crowd noise was cranked up.

For the Cubs, the win served as a sigh of relief after the first inevitable losing streak of the season.

"This is going to happen," Bote said. "You can't get frustrated. You can't get caught up in results. Even in a 60-game season, as much as it is a sprint, and as much as every game literally matters, with great magnitude, you've really got to trust that we've been playing good baseball and not push the panic button."