You won’t see an offensive performance like the Cubs put together against the Reds. In fact, no one has ever seen it done before.
The Cubs became the first team in MLB history to have all three starting outfielders hit multiple homers in the same game as Ian Happ, Jason Heyward and Kyle Schwarber each went deep twice.
“This game has been going on for a while now, so it’s pretty rare to have a first,” Happ said. “To be able to do that as a group with two other guys that you care about a lot and you’ve played with for a long time, that was really special for all of us.”
The Cubs’ outfield did all the damage in Sunday’s 10-1 win over the Reds and did it by launching a season-high six homers in the series finale.
The home run barrage started in the fourth inning as Schwarber launched his first homer of the day off Reds’ starter Luis Castillo. Castillo had allowed just one home run this season coming into Sunday’s start.
Things continued to go the Cubs way as Happ and Heyward homered in each of their next two plate appearances giving the Cubs a comfortable lead.
“To be a part of history is awesome,” Heyward said. “I know the fact that Happer went to school in Cincinnati and Schwarby being from here, there’s also a lot of cool irony in that. So it’s a special moment for us as players.”
“Those two guys right now, they’re consistent,” Schwarber said. “They’re consistent staples in the lineup right now. Putting in great at bats. Happ going up there and stepping up big in that leadoff spot with Kris being down. J-Hey having professional bat [after] professional bat. I mean you can’t say enough.”
With two-thirds of the Cubs’ outfield having a pair of homers, it was Schwarber who saved the best for last.
Schwarber put an exclamation point on a historic day by crushing a 444-foot grand slam after the Cubs loaded the bases in the ninth inning to join the two-homer club with Happ and Heyward.
“We made some history today,” Schwarber said. “So having all of our outfielders go out there and perform at the plate and be able to do our thing out now feels pretty cool. Whenever you have a little piece of history, you always keep that with you.”
While the historic game gave the Cubs a lot to be excited about, not everything went according to plan on Sunday as right-hander Tyler Chatwood left the game early after experiencing right elbow discomfort.
Things took a turn in the third inning as Chatwood spiked his first pitch to Joey Votto and then spiked his next pitch and immediately called for Cubs’ trainer PJ Mainville. After a quick chat with Mainville and manager David Ross, he was removed from the game.
“He felt a little something on the breaking ball,” Ross said. “And then he threw the next pitch which I believe was a changeup and it was like that short spike changeup and he called us out right away.”
Sunday was Chatwood’s second start back since returning from the 10-day injured list after suffering a mid-back strain. The team will re-evaluate the right-hander on Monday when the team returns to Chicago before heading to Pittsburgh.
Left-hander José Quintana, who allowed one run over three innings in relief, would be next to slide into the rotation if Chatwood misses time.
“That’s why it’s so hard to plan sometimes,” Ross said. “ It was so nice to have Q there on the back end of that and that we could stretch him out a little bit more.”
