Cole Hamels wasn’t about to let Craig Kimbrel hog all the pitching headlines.
The Cubs’ day got off to a great start when Kimbrel — a seven-time All-Star closer who’d been in free-agent limbo since 2018 — appeared at Wrigley Field for an introductory press conference. Then Hamels turned the excitement up a notch, throwing eight shutout innings in a 3-1 victory against the rival Cardinals.
Hamels (5-2) struck out 10 and walked only one in an even stronger outing than his start five days prior in St. Louis. He was a hard-luck loser then as the Cardinals won 2-1 to complete a three-game sweep. The Cubs lead the season series 4-3, with the home team having won every game.
Cubs starters have a 1.96 ERA in the last nine games.
“I do believe [our] engine is the starting pitching,” manager Joe Maddon said.
Hamels got a boost in the bottom of the first when Javy Baez homered to right field for a 2-0 lead. This after a modest wind helped keep leadoff hitter Dexter Fowler’s drive in the top of the inning from finding the basket in center.
“It does help having some wind,” Hamels said. “I know when Dexter hit that first one, I thought it was out.”
Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas (4-6) left the game after being hit in the right forearm by a line drive off the bat of David Bote in the fourth inning.
Just keep running
With Kyle Schwarber out of the lineup, Anthony Rizzo took a turn in the leadoff spot, reaching base three times and scoring the game’s first run. Good stuff, right? Well, mostly.
The big lug sprinkled in quite the odd gaffe on the bases after singling in the fifth. Rizzo could’ve scored on Kris Bryant’s ensuing double, but he slowed down between second and third bases as the ball made contact with a ball boy down the left-field line. A beat after pulling up into third, Rizzo took off for home — but left fielder Marcell Ozuna’s throw narrowly beat him there.
In a nutshell: If the ball had been interfered with intentionally, Rizzo would’ve had to stop at third. Third-base umpire Brian Gorman ruled it unintentional.
“I messed up there,” Rizzo said. “You’re supposed to run the whole time.”
‘Door is open’ for Zobrist
President of baseball operations Theo Epstein emphasized that the signing of Kimbrel — made possible in part because Ben Zobrist isn’t being paid while on the restricted list — doesn’t mean Zobrist can’t rejoin the team this season.
“This doesn’t in any way impact Ben Zobrist’s situation,” Epstein said. “We’re here for Ben. He’s part of the Cubs family, and he knows that the door is open for him if it’s ever an appropriate time for him to return. It would be wonderful to see both those guys wearing Cubs uniforms together at the same time.”
Zobrist has been on a personal leave of absence since last playing on May 6.
