DETROIT – The Cubs came out swinging in the ninth inning. Three pitches in, Yan Gomes and Nick Madrigal had already hit back-to-back doubles to retake the lead. Three batters later, they added what ended up being a much-needed insurance run, as Madrigal scored on a fielder’s choice.
“That’s a character win,” manager David Ross said after the Cubs’ 7-6 victory against the Tigers at Comerica Park on Monday.
The Cubs’ last six games have been decided by two or fewer runs, and they’ve gone 4-2 in those games. They’ve also been in a soft part of their schedule. But painting the Cubs’ win Monday with that kind of a broad brush leaves out key details.
“We’ve got some guys that have normally held down the back of the bullpen; if those guys are available today, we probably can stretch it out to like a 7-2 game, and it feels like more of a blowout,” Ross said. “But sometimes you’ve got to claw teeth and nails.”
The Cubs’ back-end relievers – Adbert Alzolzy, Julian Merryweather and Mark Leiter Jr. – were all coming off of back-to-backs. Leiter had pitched the least of the trio, throwing 13 pitches in the last two games combined, so he took the mound in the ninth on Monday, earning the save.
Before Ross had to make those back-end decisions, starter Javier Assad held the Tigers scoreless through the first five innings he pitched.
The only runs he allowed came on back-to-back solo homers from Spencer Torkelson and Kerry Carpenter in the sixth inning. Assad handed the ball over to reliever Hayden Wesneksi with one out. Wesneski and José Cuas held the Tigers at bay through the seventh inning.
When Michael Fulmer took over in the eighth, the Cubs had a 5-2 lead. But in what Ross described as a “tough night,” the veteran right-hander gave up three runs on four hits and a walk as the Tigers stormed back to tie the game.
The Tigers’ eighth-inning comeback was orchestrated by two former Cubs: Javy Báez, a member of the 2016 championship core, and Zach McKinstry, who the Cubs acquired at the trade deadline last year and traded to the Tigers this spring.
Báez hit a broken-bat double down the right field line to drive in two runs. Then, McKinstry hit a blooper into center field that a sliding Cody Bellinger couldn’t quite glove.
“Even when it doesn’t go your way – pitching side, offense side – when the rest of your team is there to pick you up, that’s what makes a special team,” Madrigal said. “We got some big innings out of the pitchers and, for us to bounce back in the top half of the next inning was huge for us.”
Rookie reliever Daniel Palencia got the last two outs of the eighth inning, and then the Cubs mounted their winning offensive push.
Return to Detroit
The Tigers honored corner infielder Jeimer Candelario with a tribute video before the game. Candelario spent 5 ½ seasons with Detroit, after the Cubs traded him to the Tigers in 2017.
“He’s grown so much,” Ross said. “I got to see him as a teammate early on in my career here with Chicago. But just the maturity he has because he’s played so many games and played in the league for so long now that he’s very consistent the way he goes about his business.”