CHICAGO -- After Cubs manager Craig Counsell took the ball out of Colin Rea’s hand on Monday night, the Wrigley Field faithful collectively rose to their feet and raised the decibel level in the old ballpark. The ovation for the veteran right-hander recognized a great outing, but might as well have been for the way he keeps stepping up for the North Siders.
For two seasons in a row, Rea has moved into the rotation amid injury setbacks for Chicago. And once again, the righty has looked less like a fill-in and more like an arm right at home among the starters with more name recognition. This time, Rea was the steady hand that led the Cubs to a 5-1 win over the Phillies.
In guiding Chicago to its sixth consecutive win, the 35-year-old Rea worked into the seventh inning, exiting to the warm reception with two outs and a runner aboard.
Rea watched from the third-base dugout as lefty Hoby Milner induced a sharply hit liner from slugger Kyle Schwarber. The ball hit the dirt and found the glove of diving second baseman Nico Hoerner, who scrambled to his feet and fired to first for the out. The crowd roared and Rea’s pitching line was officially complete.
Over 6 2/3 innings, Rea was charged with one run -- courtesy of a double from Justin Crawford that center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong nearly snagged with an all-out diving attempt. Rea struck out five, walked two and scattered six hits in an outing that was helped by his defense at a few turns.
In the first inning, in particular, Chicago’s stellar defense showed off. Schwarber sent a pitch from Rea into foul ground up the left-field line, where Ian Happ tumbled over the side wall while making an impressive catch. One batter later, Hoerner ended the inning with a slick diving stop to collect a 106.4 mph grounder off the bat of Bryce Harper.
The Cubs’ offense backed Rea with five early runs against Phillies righty Aaron Nola. Dansby Swanson capped off a four-run outburst in the second inning with a three-run homer to center, giving the shortstop five blasts on the season. In the third, Michael Busch singled to left -- sending the baseball over a goose waddling through the outfield -- and later scored via a sacrifice fly by Michael Conforto.
That was sufficient for Rea, who began this season in the bullpen -- similar to a year ago. Last season, the veteran assumed the rotation spot vacated by Justin Steele after he required season-ending elbow surgery. Rea went on to finish second on the Cubs in innings pitched (159 1/3) and spun a 1.17 ERA in three playoff outings.
In an unfortunate twist for the Cubs, Cade Horton was sidelined with an elbow injury earlier this month and needed season-ending surgery. Again, Rea moved into the starting staff, where he now has a home for the Cubs. All Rea has done since Sept. 1 last year has been to post a 2.59 ERA with 55 strikeouts and 12 walks in 59 innings (including the playoffs).