Cubs try to 'hold on to the positives' in loss

Kris Bryant loves the showmanship that some players put on full display in big moments. In a discussion with reporters on Monday afternoon, the Cubs star cited Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. as one example.

Bryant cracked a smile, probably trying to imagine himself celebrating in a made-for-social-media manner.

"You see Tatis hitting homers, and he's showing his excitement," Bryant said. "I hit a homer and -- trust me -- I might be happier than him running around the bases, but I don't show it."

A few hours later, Bryant did let his guard down for a moment in Chicago's 8-7 loss to the Braves. After Zach Davies' disastrous first inning, Bryant launched a game-tying grand slam off Charlie Morton that had momentum-altering potential in the third.

As Bryant rounded second base, his teammates were pounding the railing in the third-base dugout and going wild. Bryant -- having just pulled the contest into a 4-4 deadlock -- allowed himself a celebratory shout and a wide smile as he completed his trot.

"It's nice to watch him show a little bit of emotion," Cubs manager David Ross said.

Davies just wished it would have mattered more in the end.

"You want the Kris Bryant home run to be the go-ahead," Davies said. "You don't want it to be the have-to-come-from-behind [homer]. You want it to build the momentum. It's just been tough."

Davies was referring to his past four starts, during which he has failed to log more than four frames in an outing. Against the Braves, the righty faced 10 batters in a four-run, 34-pitch first inning, then he was done after 3 2/3 innings with five runs surrendered.

When the smoke cleared, Davies' season ERA stood at 9.47, with a higher walk rate (15.0 percent) than strikeout rate (14.0 percent) and fewer than five innings averaged in his five turns.

"We do feel like things will come back around for those guys," Ross said of the rotation. "And that they’ll start to find their groove and be able to go deeper in the games. We're just not at that point yet. But, we need to get there."

That opening inning created a quick hole for a Chicago lineup that has started and stalled with wide swings in results over the past 10 days. This happened to be a night when the offense found its footing and flashed its power.

Nico Hoerner had two hits in his debut as Chicago's leadoff man, including a double. Willson Contreras launched a home run that soared a projected 456 feet -- the Cubs' longest blast of the year. Matt Duffy reached twice off the bench. Anthony Rizzo had two walks and a sacrifice fly.

And it was not enough.

"There was a lot of really great stuff," Hoerner said, "as far as coming back, and then coming back again. Those things really matter for the belief of the group, and I hope we can hold on to the positives from today."

One of those positives being Bryant's grand slam.

"That was really one of the most memorable swings," Hoerner said.

The young infielder likened it to Jason Heyward's go-ahead shot off Brewers closer Josh Hader on Sept. 12 last season, in arguably the game of the year for the Cubs. Bryant's sixth career grand slam had a similar feel, especially given the eruption in the dugout and his grin around the basepaths.

"I really believed we were going to win the game after that," Hoerner said. "We gave ourselves a great chance, too. It was an awesome game. But we didn't get the result in the end."

Bryant ended his evening with a two-out walk in the ninth against lefty Will Smith -- again giving Chicago one last chance to complete the comeback. Ian Happ, who was pulled from the leadoff spot in favor of Hoerner, grounded out to halt the rally.

That final plate appearance for Bryant improved his season slash line to .289/.375/.618 through 21 games. He has a 165 wRC+ to go along with 1.2 WAR (per Fangraphs) -- the latter tied for the second-highest total in the National League.

Now beyond last season's health woes, Bryant is playing at his expected MVP-caliber level again.

"I haven't really changed much of anything," Bryant said. "It's just knowing the fact that I have it in me to go out there and succeed and play this game that I've played for so long. I haven't changed one thing at all. It's just me."

That's just Bryant, allowing himself to show some emotion on the field.

"He's off to a good start and having some fun," Ross said. "When you're playing like he's playing, it's a fun game. And then to bring us back from that deficit with one swing of the bat was huge. It's nice to see emotion. I like it."