*Photo from AP News*
Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa. For the second year, baseball returned to the Dyersville cornfields. Seiya Suzuki brought in the first run, Ian Happ doubled in the winning run, and the Chicago Cubs defeated the Cincinnati Reds with a 4-2 victory on Thursday night in Dyersville.
After the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees did battle at the famous field of dreams location last year, we got a tilt of NL Central rivals. Although both aren't good this year, it was still memorable. The Cubs picked up their second straight win and 3rd in 4 games, riding a bit of momentum.
The night started with Ken Griffey Jr and Ken Griffey Sr emerging from the famous cornfields, recreating the famous "Hey dad, do you wanna have a catch?" scene from the movie. After that, many families joined them on the field to have a catch, and the Cubs and Reds followed suit, taking the field to get the game underway. Baseball legends Billy Williams and Johnny Bench were in attendance, and Fergie Jenkins threw out the first pitch on what was a memorable night for everyone involved.
Cubs starting pitcher Marcus Stroman said of the experience that "I’m just out there catching moments, everything. The whole atmosphere. I’m just trying to capture the vibe of where I’m at, really, through my lens, which is different than anybody else."
The Cubs jumped out to an early lead in this one. Suzuki doubled into the left center field gap, scoring Patrick Wisdom to make it 1-0 Cubs. Nico Hoerner added an RBI single to score Suzuki and make it 2-0, and Hoerner then scored on a double from Happ, making the Cubs lead 3-0 after the first inning.
A few innings later, when the 4th inning rolled around, Nick Madrigal extended the lead. Madrigal singled into center field, scoring Nelson Velazquez to up the Cubs lead to 4-0 after 4 innings. In the 7th inning, Matt Reynolds got the Reds on the board. Reynolds doubled into right center field, plating two runs to make it a 4-2 score, which didn't change for the rest of the game.
Drew Smyly picked up the start for the Cubs, pitching 5 shutout innings while allowing 4 hits and striking out 9 hitters. Michael Rucker allowed two runs in his one inning of work, followed by two innings from Brandon Hughes and one inning from Rowan Wick, who picked up the save.
Asked about the environment as a starting pitcher, Smyly said that "I was taking it in. I went and stood on the mound just to kind of get the perspective of what it was going to be like. I knew this was going to be a lot different than a normal Major League game."
Starting for the Reds was rookie Nick Lodolo. He took the loss, allowing 4 runs on 7 hits across 4 2/3 innings pitched. Buck Farmer pitched the next 1 1/3 innings, followed by relief appearances from Joel Kuhnel, Alexis Diaz, and Hunter Strickland, each throwing a scoreless inning out of the bullpen.
Reds manager David Bell said of losing in Iowa that "Obviously we wanted to go out and win that game. Disappointed there, but there is no way anything can take away from the day we had here. It was a great experience. I heard so many people throughout our clubhouse saying it’s something they’ll remember for the rest of their lives."
As of now, there is no field of dreams game set to take place in 2023, as the stadium and the areas around it are set to undergo significant construction. There have been discussions to return after 2023, but nothing has been finalized as of now.
Up next, the Cubs and Reds resume their series on Saturday night after a day off on Friday to travel to Cincinnati for the rest of the weekend. Adrian Sampson draws the start for the Cubs, while Graham Ashcraft starts for the Reds.
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