Key Moments of the Game
Home runs, go-ahead hits, and Japanese-vs-Japanese duels in order
- Shohei caught looking with the bases loaded in the 7th — gut-wrenching
- Smith's leadoff homer and Kim's RBI single staked us to a 4-0 lead
- Late collapse: Swanson's triple, Bregman's tying bomb, then Swanson's go-ahead shot
A strikeout right out of the gate?!
Are you kidding me, Shohei strikes out in the very first inning?! That last sweeper, the one breaking away outside — he got caught fouling it off into the catcher's mitt. An 80-mph breaking ball, huh? Yeah, that's nasty stuff. Whatever, first at-bat happens. Next one, next one!
Then in the bottom of the 3rd, runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out — huge chance! I was screaming "HERE COMES SHOHEI!" and then... two changeups, swing and miss, gone. Both pitch 1 and pitch 4 were changeups and he was out in front of both of them. Ouch, that one hurt. The Cubs starter today has some seriously filthy off-speed stuff.
Smith brings the energy with a bomb
But hey, right after Shohei went down, Smith comes up and BLASTS one! A laser shot of a home run, that's what I'm talking about! When we went up 3-0 I was fully in beer-cracking mode like "alright, we got this one tonight!"
Then in the 4th, Hyeseong Kim comes through with a clutch RBI! The Korean speedster getting it done with a single — what a reliable guy. 4-0, I thought we had it in the bag... yeah, I really thought that...
Shohei, with the bases loaded...
His 5th inning at-bat was vintage Shohei though. Full count and he takes four straight cutters to draw the walk. Two strikeouts and then he shows off that elite plate discipline — that's our guy, unreal.
And then, the moment of truth in the bottom of the 7th. Bases. Loaded. When Shohei came up, I literally stood up in front of the TV. "GRAND SLAM TIME, LET'S GO!" ...and he goes down looking. That last slider was right on the edge but the ump rang him up. Aw man, that's the one you cannot let go by...!
Cubs come back, Seiya silent too
Then in the top of the 7th, Swanson triples, Hoerner gets the RBI hit, and suddenly it's 4-3. Bregman ties it with a homer in the 8th, and Swanson goes deep again in the 9th to put them ahead... where the heck was our closer?! 6-4 loss, just like that. We blew it.
Oh, and by the way, the Cubs' Seiya Suzuki went 0-for-4. I was hoping for a Japan vs Japan showdown today, but with both Seiya and Shohei in slumps, it ended up being one frustrating Japanese-players day all around... There's always tomorrow! Shohei, you better pay back those three K's!
Japanese Players in This Game
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