Postgame Wrap: Cubs 14, Dbacks 6; Anthony Rizzo Shows Why He’s MVP Material

This game was such an up and down roller coaster from the very first swing of the bat (for the Dbacks, that is). I always have a propensity to look at the glass half full; what went right instead of what went wrong. Tonight felt like a mixed bag. There was a lot of really, really good stuff and then there was a lot of pretty bad stuff.

• John Lackey struggled all night, starting with the first pitch which was a home run by Jean Segura. He was up in the zone and could not make the necessary adjustments to get things on track. I really don’t know how to explain this other than it must’ve just been a bad night. The positive, if there is one for John, is that he managed to last six innings, the last three of which were scoreless, but, nevertheless, he continued to get hit hard giving up way too many line drives. He gave up six runs, eight hits and one walk while striking out four batters.

• At this point, I’m pretty sure that everyone knows what happened to Kyle Schwarber. After another hard hit drive given up by Lackey, Kyle and Dexter Fowler both closed in on the ball which was hit deep and between them. The outcome was not so good for Kyle.

• The initial report on Kyle is that the X-rays were negative and he will undergo an MRI on Friday. So, it could be ligament damage or a sprain. We will let you know as soon as we find out more.

• Ok, enough with being a buzz-kill. There was a lot of good news too. Like the offense, the sweet, shiny, incredibly effective offense. First, here’s a box score, because you may wanna check it out to get all the details on this one.

• Anthony Rizzo – Just. Won’t. Stop. I’m going to be surprised if he isn’t the MVP at the end of the season, he is SO good. He was 3 for 4 with three runs, six RBIs, a walk and I think he may have been juggling while he was doing it. He had a triple and a three-run home run. What? You wanna see it..well here it is:

• Dexter Fowler continues to light things up. He went 2 for 4, including two walks, he scored two runs and had two RBIs (I think two may be his new lucky number), oh, and just for good measure he left two on base (weird, I know!). Man is on fire.

• Kris Bryant, Addison Russell and Jason Heyward all had good nights tonight as well. Kris was 3 for 6 (including a double) and scored a run. Addison went 2 for 4, which included one walk, while scoring two runs and knocking in two RBIs. Jason was 2 for 4 scoring three runs and he walked two times. It’s good to see these guys getting into the mix since they weren’t much of a factor in the last series against the Angels but we knew, once they did start hitting, runs were going to start pouring in, which they did tonight.

Of course, a lot more happened in the game tonight and I’ll break it down more when we look at ‘Fun with Numbers.’ And yes, if you’re wondering, the feature photo is what Anthony Rizzo looks like right after he crushes a home run. Awesome, isn’t it?