Caleb Williams threw for two touchdowns. Justin Fields had an interception and two fumbles. Montez Sweat and Austin Booker combined for 12 sacks. The Bears beat the Steelers 18-8.
Oh, wait. This was a baseball game.
The Chicago Cubs came out swinging in the series opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Heading into Monday night, the look of the Pirates’ expected starters made winning a series look daunting for the Cubs, especially with how hit-and-miss the offense has been recently. Well, the offense was a hit on Monday night.
An eruption of execution gave the Cubs 18 runs on 21 hits. The bottom two in the lineup, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Miguel Amaya, combined for seven hits and four runs batted in. Dansby Swanson hit his first grand slam as a Chicago Cub. Isaac Parades joined Swanson as the only two home runs of the night.
The rest of the offense came from station-to-station small ball. The Cubs found grass and worked their way around to score. In doing so, they did something they hadn’t done since before Wrigley Field was built.
On September 17, 1911, the Chicago Cubs defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers 5-0 in a game in which the Cubs stole eight bases. Solly Hofman and Heinie Zimmerman each had two steals that day. The next time they would steal eight bases in one game would be Monday night in Pittsburgh.
Pete Crow-Armstrong led the way with three swipes of his own. Ian Happ stole second base twice in the game. Nico Hoerner, Cody Bellinger, and Seiya Suzuki all joined in on the fun with their own steals. Altogether, that’s eight steals and a big win for the Cubs.
PCA said after the game that the Cubs had a plan to be aggressive against the Pirates on the basepaths. They went out and executed their plan perfectly, helping contribute to a big win. On the other hand, Pirates manager Derek Shelton may be in denial. He said postgame that he did not believe the Cubs’ eight stolen bases were the issue that led to their loss Monday night.
It may not be the issue, but it’s probably an issue to address. He may want to address it quickly, too. The Cubs have two more games in Pittsburgh coming up and will probably plan to be aggressive again on the base paths.
