*Photo from AP News*
We had a few routs in baseball on Friday, this is the story of one of them. Willson Contreras homered, Nelson Velazquez homered twice, and the Chicago Cubs defeated the Philadelphia Phillies with a 15-2 rout on Friday night in Philadelphia.
The Cubs picked up the win in their first game out of the all star break, and it's their second in a row dating back to before the break. The spotlight was on Velazquez, who homered twice in the game after coming in as a pinch hitter in the 8th inning, joining Thad Bosley in 1985 as the only Cubs ever to accomplish such a feat.
Asked about the historical significance, Velazquez said that "I didn’t know that; thank you for letting me know that. It feels good. It feels amazing. Everyone just worked together and we worked like a team, and that helps us a lot. We scored a lot of runs, we got a lot of hits. When we play like a team like that, we can do a lot of damage."
The Phillies got off to a fast start with a solo homer in the first from Kyle Schwarber, but it was all Cubs after that. After a solo homer from Contreras in the 4th inning, the Cubs took a 7-1 lead after 5 innings thanks to RBI doubles from Christopher Morel, Patrick Wisdom, and Nico Hoerner, plus an RBI single from Ian Happ.
In the 8th, an RBI single from Happ and a two run homer from Velazquez made it a 10-1 game. In the 9th, a 3 run home run from Velazquez plus a two run shot from Suzuki made it 15-1, before Darick Hall homered in the bottom of the 9th, making it a 15-2 final score.
Cubs manager David Ross said of Contreras that "He's not trying to control the pitching staff, he's not trying to control where he hits in the order, he's not trying to control anything from a team-building standpoint, like where he might go or not go or what the future might hold for him. I think he's very much caught up in the moment and trying to be the best player he can for his team, and that's a powerful message he's sending."
Justin Steele got the win in his start for the Cubs, allowing one run on 4 hits in 5 innings pitched. Brandon Hughes, Scott Effross, and Rowan Wick each pitched shutout relief outings, with Erich Uelmen allowing one run in the 9th to close it out.
It was Kyle Gibson who started for the Phillies, getting the loss after allowing 6 runs in 4 1/3 innings of work. Jeurys Familia allowed one run as he finished the 5th, before Corey Knebel and Nick Nelson had scoreless innings. JoJo Romero pitched an inning before catcher Garrett Stubbs pitched the 9th.
Gibson said of his start that "I felt really good through four innings. For not feeling like I had control of multiple pitches, I was able to work the lineup. It’s frustrating. I never really like to sit back and say you got unlucky, but some days you’ve got to be realistic."
Up next, the Cubs and Phillies continue their series on Saturday night. Marcus Stroman starts for the Cubs, while Zack Wheeler goes for the Phillies.
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