Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning of the Cubs’ 5-1 win Sunday over the Diamondbacks.
Could it be the last time they do that with the Cubs?
It’s been well-documented that the Cubs could go through significant changes by the July 30 trade deadline. Both pending free agents, Bryant seems especially likely to depart while Rizzo could also be on the move.
That’s what made Sunday’s homers so bittersweet for the Wrigley Field crowd of 32,602. The home runs helped the Cubs take two of three from Arizona, but they came in what looks like a lost season at the end of the Cubs’ championship window.
Bryant and Rizzo have been a matched pair, and were two faces of the Cubs’ golden era that won the franchise its fabled championship. Now the countdown to the deadline is truly on, regardless of Bryant’s two-run homer off the Diamondbacks’ Caleb Smith that was followed by Rizzo’s drive that easily cleared the wall in right.
Another key part of the core had a different kind of day.
Javy Baez hobbled off the field after trying to beat out an eighth-inning broken bat grounder. But Baez stayed in the game and made a diving play on a soft Josh Reddick liner in the ninth, a relief to the Cubs for many reasons.
Beyond one potential last hurrah for “Bryzzo” and the Baez issue, David Bote marked his return to the lineup with a two-run homer in the fourth to give the Cubs a 5-0 lead. Bote had missed 48 games with a dislocated left shoulder.
In his longest outing of the season, Trevor Williams threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings for his first win since May 26 after missing more than a month following an appendectomy. Williams, who struck out six, departed in the seventh with runners on first and second but reliever Ryan Tepera stranded both.
The Cubs had a chance for more in the seventh, loading the bases with none out. But Willson Contreras grounded into a fielder’s choice and Bryant struck out. The inning ended when Contreras was hit by a sharp Rizzo grounder, keeping the Cubs’ lead at 5-0.
Arizona loaded the bases in the eighth but Dan Winkler struck out Kole Calhoun and coaxed a fielder’s choice from Asdrubal Cabrera to end the threat.
The Diamondbacks avoided the shutout in the ninth on Andrew Young’s RBI single off Dillon Maples. Maples couldn’t finish the ninth, and Craig Kimbrel got the final out for his 23rd save.
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July 26, 2021 at 04:34AM
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Last hurrah for Bryzzo? Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo go back-to-back in Cubs win over Arizona - Chicago Sun-Times
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