Dansby Swanson’s first home run as a Cub landed in the left-field basket during a wind-blown day game in Chicago. That’s BINGO on a Wrigley Field card.
“I feel like I got a good glimpse of what Wrigley wind can do,” said Swanson, who had been on a four-game hitless streak entering Thursday after a hot start to the season. “That was obviously cool. It’s a special place, and to get the first one out of the way is definitely a good feeling.”
It gave the Cubs an insurance run in a game they’d win 5-2 against the Padres, claiming the series victory.
“A little special place here, to hit your first one and have the basket catch it,” manager David Ross said.
Swanson’s only other home run at Wrigley landed in the right-field basket when the Braves were in town on June 24, 2019.
“People were giving me a hard time about [being] a basketball player,” Swanson said. “Which, in my next life, that’s definitely what I want to be. A corner three specialist.”
It was the warmest game of the series, and despite the wind blowing in from Lake Michigan, the Cubs’ offense was powered mostly by the long ball.
Eric Hosmer homered against his former team in the second inning, sending a high heater over the center field wall. Then, Nelson Velázquez got his barrel to an inside sinker to put it in the left-field bleachers. That was the Cubs’ fourth set of back-to-back home runs this season.
‘Game saving’
The Cubs were holding onto a three-run lead in the top of the seventh inning, but with two outs, the Padres had runners on first and second. Ross brought in reliever Keegan Thompson to face Fernando Tatís Jr.
Tatís hits a soft chopper to third base on the first pitch.
“I thought initially off the bat I would have no chance at him at first,” third baseman Nick Madrigal said. “I know he gets down the line. But I had a good read on it.”
Madrigal, who converted from second base to third this year, fielded the ball off his front foot and made a running throw to get out of the inning.
“That was the game-saving play,” Ross said.
Outfield highlights
All the metrics suggested that the hard fly ball off Tatís’ bat in the fifth inning would be a hit. He crushed the pitch, sending it into the right-field gap with an exit velocity of 102.6 mph and expected batting average of .830.
Instead, right fielder Seiya Suzuki sprinted back to the warning track and made the catch at the wall. The catch completed a 1-2-3 inning in the fifth.
“I wore him out today,” said starter Hayden Wesneski, who held the Padres to one run through five innings. “He’s going to sleep good on the plane.”
It was a strong defensive day all around in the outfield. In another highlight, Velázquez showed his range in the eighth inning, tracking a Manny Machado fly ball to the warning track in the left-field gap.
Hendricks makes rehab start
Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks made the first start of his rehab assignment in Triple-A Iowa on Thursday. He allowed six runs in 12⁄3 innings.
