Chicago baseball report: Cubs catcher Yan Gomes’ perfect base-stealing record — and what the White Sox are doing about walks
Cody Bellinger’s return to Dodger Stadium could not have played out much better.
He received a pregame tribute and cheers Friday, robbed Jason Heyward of a home run Saturday and slugged a no-doubt homer Sunday as part of the Chicago Cubs’ series win against the Los Angeles Dodgers. His homer Sunday, the second of back-to-back home runs with Patrick Wisdom, stood as the winning run in a 3-2 victory.
Bellinger’s 422-foot home run at 108.1 mph was his hardest-hit ball of any kind since 2020.
“I had a lot of fun and I tried to enjoy every second of it,” Bellinger said. “You only come back for the first time one time. I really just wanted to soak in the moment and to have a fun time with the fans.”
Although his second child is due any day, Bellinger said after the game he still planned to fly with the team Sunday night to Oakland.
“We need to keep that (bun) in the oven and let that settle in while he’s rolling,” manager David Ross joked.
While the Cubs head to Oakland winners of three consecutive series, the White Sox have yet to win a series this season as they navigate around injuries to third baseman Yoán Moncada and shortstop Tim Anderson.
Every Monday throughout the season, Tribune baseball writers will provide an update on what happened — and what’s ahead — for the Cubs and Sox.
Yan Gomes, the (selective) base stealer
Yan Gomes’ spotless career stolen-base record remains intact, a tidbit that surprised the veteran catcher.
Gomes, 35, isn’t known for his offense, though even in Year 12 of his big-league career he still possesses some pop in his bat. He recorded his seventh career multihomer game and second with the Cubs when he slugged two homers as part of a three-hit game Friday at Dodger Stadium.
But perhaps more impressively, Gomes stole second base in the third inning. It set up the Cubs’ first run in their 8-2 win, with Gomes scoring on Ian Happ’s two-out double. The steal improved Gomes to 8-for-8 in his career.
“I thought for sure I’ve gotten thrown out before,” Gomes said. “But at the same time, I don’t go very much. Shoot, this many years in the big leagues and getting only eight bags I don’t think is something to be extremely proud of, but it’s 100%.
“There’s so much that, obviously not being a base stealer, goes into it. (First base coach Mike Napoli) tells you to go, you’re like, ‘Oh, my gosh, are you sure I should go? I feel like he’s going to pick me off even though there’s not much of a threat there.’”
Gomes became the sixth major-league catcher since 1901 to tally at least three hits, two home runs and a stolen base in one game and the first since Ivan Rodriguez did it for the Texas Rangers on Aug. 16, 1999, in Cleveland. Gomes is the first National League catcher to accomplish the feat since the Philadelphia Phillies’ Darren Daulton on Aug. 17, 1985, at Wrigley Field.
Gomes’ production out of the No. 9 spot in Friday’s victory provided a nice boost, though the Cubs haven’t gotten consistently reliable production from Gomes or fellow catcher Tucker Barnhart. That’s not why they’re on the team, though. Gomes, who is 8-for-34 (.235) with no walks and six strikeouts to start the season, centers his daily focus on the pitching staff.
He learned that approach when he came up with Cleveland under manager Terry Francona.
“I was taking pride in that,” Gomes said. “If I do some at the plate, great. Obviously it’s going to get pointed out. But if we’re celebrating after the game with the win, I feel like we all did our jobs.”
How are the Sox addressing early wildness?
Sox reliever Aaron Bummer issued a bases-loaded walk to the Baltimore Orioles’ Cedric Mullins in the sixth inning of Saturday’s game at Guaranteed Rate Field.
One inning later, Sox reliever Kendall Graveman walked Ryan O’Hearn with the bases loaded.
That’s normally not a recipe for success — but the Sox found a way to win 7-6 in 10 innings despite walking 10 batters.
It marked their first victory with at least 10 walks since Sept. 14, 2020, when they issued 10 in a 3-1 win against the Minnesota Twins.
“We did walk a lot of guys, but we made pitches when they had to be made,” manager Pedro Grifol said Sunday morning. “(The Orioles went) 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position. That means you’re making pitches and you’re playing defense.”
The Sox walked 26 in the series, their most in a three-game span since June 21-23, 1996 (also 26).
“Obviously we need to do a better job staying in the strike zone and attacking guys,” catcher Yasmani Grandal said Sunday. “The good thing is it’s happening now and not later in the year. We are going to address that early instead of late.”
The Sox had success in that area the previous series, limiting the Twins to five walks in three games. But the Orioles have shown why they rank in the top five in the majors in walks.
Entering Sunday, the Sox had allowed 74 walks this season. Only the Oakland Athletics (79) had issued more.
Grifol said one key is attacking the strike zone earlier with a goal of throwing two strikes in the first three pitches of an at-bat.
“We win the two-out-of-three battle for the day, we probably have a good chance to win a baseball game,” Grifol said. “If we lose that battle, we’re going to be in trouble. Games like (Saturday), you don’t come out on the right side of those types of games. We did because we showed grit, we showed the ability to come back four different times.”
Week ahead: Cubs
The Cubs were one out from a three-game sweep of the Dodgers and carry momentum into their three-game set in Oakland, a prime opportunity to win another series.
The Cubs have played well against good teams, but the series against the Athletics provides another test: Can they beat up on bad teams? It’s a must if they’re serious about contending for the postseason, and no team has been worse to start the year than the A’s (3-13).
A scheduling quirk means the Cubs won’t wait long to see the Dodgers again. The four-game series that begins Thursday at Wrigley Field will challenge the Cubs pitching staff to continue to find success against a Dodgers lineup that failed to score more than two runs in all three games over the weekend.
Sunday’s starter, Drew Smyly, wasn’t looking too far ahead despite knowing his next start also would be against the Dodgers. He held them to one run and four hits in 5⅔ innings in the victory. He relied less on his curveball than in his first two starts, incorporating his sinker and cutter more frequently.
Smyly didn’t want to give away too much insight into his approach before seeing them again in five days.
“The plan was to be very aggressive in the zone,” Smyly said. “This team’s obviously super talented and they’re very disciplined. They’re known to not really chase much and make pitchers work. So my mindset was let’s just come out as aggressive as can be, try to get strike 1, strike 2 to keep them on their heels.”
Monday: at Athletics, 8:40 p.m., Marquee
Tuesday: at Athletics, 8:40 p.m., Marquee
Wednesday: at Athletics, 2:37 p.m., Marquee
Thursday: vs. Dodgers, 6:40 p.m., Marquee
Friday: vs. Dodgers, 1:20 p.m., Marquee
Saturday: vs. Dodgers, 1:20 p.m., Marquee
Sunday: vs. Dodgers, 1:20 p.m., Marquee
Week ahead: Sox
Jake Burger lined the first pitch he saw Friday over Guaranteed Rate Field’s left-field wall for a solo home run in the second inning against the Orioles.
“It comes in waves, and right now I feel pretty good and feel like I’m controlling what I can control and putting my best on swing on every ball,” Burger told the Tribune before Saturday’s game. “It’s always been a part of my game. I’ve always hit balls hard. Any way I can contribute to the team and help us win ballgames is always a plus.”
The infielder homered again Saturday, a two-run blast in the sixth that helped the Sox regain momentum. And he went deep in the first inning Sunday for his fourth homer of the season, second on the team.
Burger returned to the Sox from Triple-A Charlotte on April 5 when Eloy Jiménez went on the injured list, and he spent some time at designated hitter. He also has filled in at third base with Yoán Moncada out with a sore lower back. Burger is slashing .350/.391/1.050 in his first eight games.
“He didn’t make the team out of spring training and he’s come in and been a huge part of this club the last week and a half,” Grifol said Sunday morning.
As of Sunday afternoon, the Sox were tied for 14th in the majors with 17 homers. For contrast, the Tampa Bay Rays led the big leagues with 36. The teams have a weekend series starting Friday in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Burger has been an example of the Sox depth, which has been tested early with the injuries to Jiménez (who returned Friday), Moncada and Tim Anderson.
Lenyn Sosa has gotten an extended look at second base with Elvis Andrus shifting to shortstop to fill in for Anderson.
“Obviously the depth of the 40-man (roster) is critical,” Grifol said. “We feel like we’re in a pretty good spot. Obviously our starters are our starters and we want those guys back as soon as possible, but in the meantime these guys are pretty damn good too, so we’re happy about that.”
Monday: vs. Phillies, 6:10 p.m., NBCSCH
Tuesday: vs. Phillies, 6:10 p.m., NBCSCH
Wednesday: vs. Phillies, 1:10 p.m., NBCSCH
Thursday: off
Friday: at Rays, 5:40 p.m., NBCSCH
Saturday: at Rays, 3:05 p.m., Fox-32
Sunday: at Rays, 12:40 p.m., NBCSCH
What we’re reading this morning
Column: Bulls and White Sox provide a double dose of agony for dual Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf
Column: An injury-marred start for the White Sox seems like a rerun, but GM Rick Hahn has no worries
This week in Chicago baseball
April 18, 1991: New Comiskey Park opens
The new era launched 30 years ago, on April 18, 1991, with Gov. James Thompson tossing out the ceremonial first pitch and other luminaries in attendance.
The good vibes faded quickly, however, as the Sox lost 16-0 — no, that is not a typo — to the Detroit Tigers. To say the Sox and their fans expected better is putting it mildly, especially considering the Sox were 6-1 entering the game and had ace Jack McDowell on the mound; he had gone the distance and struck out 10 in both of his starts to that point.
April 20, 1946: Cubs make their TV debut
“Television Eye to Follow Cub Fortunes Today: Entire Game Will Be Seen in Broadcast” read the Tribune headline on the morning of April 20, 1946.
WBKB, Chicago’s first commercial TV station, had its mobile unit at Wrigley Field for the defending NL champion Cubs’ home opener against the St. Louis Cardinals.
WBKB staff announcer Jack Gibney was behind the microphone, and the images looked all right leaving Clark and Addison, or at least as good as might be expected with a 1940s camera and no zoom lens.
But anyone at home hoping to see the ballgame, a 2-0 loss for the Cubs’ first defeat of the season, was in for an unpleasant surprise.
“Fail in Effort to Televise Cubs’ Game,” the next day’s Tribune headline said. See, a funny thing happened back at station headquarters at State and Lake, still the home of ABC-7 today.
April 21, 2012: Philip Humber pitches perfect game
For only a few seconds, Philip Humber’s perfect game bid was out of his hands.
”Go get it,” Humber said as catcher A.J. Pierzynski chased down an errant slider that pinch hitter Brendan Ryan was ruled to have swung at. “Throw him out.”
As soon as Pierzynski retreated and completed his throw to first base to complete the 27th consecutive out, the latest chapter in Humber’s amazing ascent was completed.
Just 15 months after Humber had to earn his way onto the Sox’s 2011 opening-day roster, he threw the 21st perfect game in major-league history with an efficient 4-0 victory over the Mariners.
Quotable
“He’s a worker. He’s been around a really long time. The expectation is he’s going to continue to trust in himself, which I know he does. We trust in him. ... Nobody’s perfect. Guys have tough days. It is baseball. I don’t think we were expecting him to hit .400 all year. I don’t know if you were, but we weren’t.” — Cubs manager David Ross on Dansby Swanson’s tough series at Dodger Stadium, where he went 3-for-13 with eight strikeouts
