SEATTLE -- Ian Happ walked for five steps out of the box, his bat still in his right hand, as he watched the flight of the ball he just sent towering over the right-field line. After it caromed off the pole at T-Mobile Park, the Cubs outfielder dropped the lumber and shifted into his trot.
Happ’s third-inning grand slam -- immediately following three straight walks by Mariners starter Bryce Miller -- broke things open for the Cubs and sent them well on their way to a 19-2 rout to avoid a sweep in Seattle. It was the first of two slams on the day for the Cubs, who also saw rookie Pedro Ramírez belt one off position player Jhonny Pareda in a nine-run eighth inning.
This marked only the third time since at least 1910 that the Cubs launched two grand slams in one game, having also done so on Sept. 5, 2021 (Matt Duffy and Frank Schwindel) and on June 3, 1987 (Brian Dayett and Keith Moreland). Michael Conforto and Pete Crow-Armstrong also went deep in Sunday’s lopsided win for Chicago.
Here are three takeaways from Sunday’s win:
1. Happ’s splits
The pitch that Miller sent Happ’s way was a quality offering. The righty fired a 1-2 splitter that dropped low and inside, falling just below the zone. Happ got his barrel to the baseball and turned a would-be whiff pitch into the momentum-swinging slam.
That falls in line with what has been a spectacular performance to date this season from the left side for the switch-hitting Happ.
“He’s having a normal season left-handed,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said earlier this weekend. “He’s striking out a little more than he has, but other than that, it’s a normal season. His [versus] left-handed numbers are just a career low. They’re low and they’ve sunk the rest of his numbers. He’s doing the stuff he normally does left-handed.”
In fact, Happ headed into Sunday’s game with a .236/.354/.457 slash line with a 125 wRC+ through 398 plate appearances from the left side against right-handed pitchers. Sunday’s homer was his 18th off righties (compared to four against lefties). From the right side, Happ entered Sunday hitting .158/.229/.292 with a 46 wRC+ in 132 PAs against left-handers.
Happ also drew a bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning (batting lefty against Mariners righty Michael Rucker) -- one of nine walks in the win for the North Siders. Miller issued seven free passes in his 4 1/3 innings against Chicago’s lineup.
2. Quick hook for Shota
From the jump, it was apparent that Cubs lefty Shota Imanaga did not have his arsenal working against the Mariners.
In the first inning, Imanaga fired one of his signature splitters on a 2-2 count to Randy Arozarena, who sent it out to left for a leadoff homer. That came after Arozarena had leadoff and walk-off blasts against the North Siders on Saturday night. And it was the beginning of a rocky outing from Imanaga.
Imanaga’s pitch count climbed to 72 through 14 batters faced in two-plus innings, prompting Counsell to turn things over to the bullpen. The Cubs lefty allowed two runs (one earned), allowing five hits and walking two in the process. His velocity was also noticeably down on his four-seamer (-1.1 mph), splitter (-1.4 mph) and sweeper (-1.8 mph), per Statcast, compared to his season rates.
3. Civale builds the bridge
Between Imanaga’s abbreviated outing and the later innings, Counsell asked right-hander Aaron Civale to serve as the bridge arm in the middle of the game. It is a role the veteran righty has embraced within Chicago’s relief corps.
Against the Mariners, Civale turned in four scoreless innings and limited the Mariners to one hit, while logging 49 pitches. That allowed the Cubs’ offense ample time to keep tacking on runs en route to the blowout win.
For his career, Civale has worked only 15 relief outings out of 166 career games across his eight Major League seasons. Fourteen of those relief appearances have come between his stints with the Cubs in ‘25 and ‘26. Through nine games and 20 innings this year, Civale has turned in a 1.80 ERA as a bullpen innings eater.