Masahiro Tanaka faced the Chicago Cubs for the second time this season after deciding to join the New York Yankees instead of the North Siders. After dominating in the first matchup – striking out 10 batters and shutting out the Cubs – things didn’t go as smooth as the first time.
The Chicago Cubs took advantage of that and mustered another solid performance on their way to a 6-1 win at Wrigley Field.
Tanaka pitched six complete innings but even though he struck out seven, he wasn’t as dominant as expected against one of the weakest lineups in all of baseball. The Japanese allowed four runs – three earned – and eight hits in a cold night in Chicago.
The Cubs kicked things off in the third with an RBI single from Emilio Bonifacio and Mike Olt added another run in the fourth with another single that scored Luis Valbuena. The Yankees came back in the sixth with an RBI single from Mark Teixeira but Chicago exploded in the sixth frame.
Olt added his second RBI of the night with a sac fly that scored Luis Valbuena and John Baker used the same technique to score Nate Schiertholtz. An RBI single from Starlin Castro made it 5-1 and after Chicago loaded the bases, Mike Olt drew a walk to score Anthony Rizzo.
The Cubs received a solid performance from their pitching and that allowed the hitters to control the game. Jason Hammel got the win with only run allowed and six strikeouts through 5.2 innings and the bullpen did the rest. Justin Grimm, Brian Schlitter, James Russell, Neil Ramirez and Hector Rondon all pitched in relief and led the Cubs to a solid win against their crowd at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs will play their final game of the season against the Yankees tomorrow at 2.20 PM in front of their fans. A win would give the Cubs a much-needed series tie and they will send Jeff Samardzija to the mound against Chase Whitley.