CLEVELAND – Ian Happ escaped Cleveland with a much-needed, well-timed home run, but the Cubs were unable to make it hold up for a win on Sunday night.
After Happ delivered a go-ahead blast in the eighth inning of Game 2 of a doubleheader against the Guardians, Chicago’s bullpen flinched enough for Cleveland to send the Cubs packing on the heels of a 6-5 loss at Progressive Field. The result was a split of the twin bill on Sunday, with the Cubs picking up a 1-0 win in the opener.
Happ ripped a pitch from Guardians reliever Shawn Armstrong into the right-field stands in the eighth, giving the Cubs a 4-3 lead. For Happ, his leadoff shot in the eighth also snapped a frustrating mini-slump for the left fielder.
Entering that plate appearance, Happ had gone 0-for-11 in the series in Cleveland. That included seven consecutive strikeouts during one stretch and nine punchouts in total in that span. Happ pulled out of that funk by pulling a 1-0 fastball from Armstrong to deep right with an exit velocity of 107.5 mph, per Statcast.
In the ninth, Happ added an RBI single off Guardians reliever Cade Smith to cut Chicago’s deficit to one run, but that was where the Cubs’ final push ended.
Happ’s fourth home run of the season was also the third blast of the nightcap for Chicago. Matt Shaw hammered an opposite-field leadoff homer in the third inning off Cleveland starter Parker Messick, and Dansby Swanson added a two-run shot off Guardians reliever Matt Festa in the sixth inning.
Swanson’s home run – his first of the year – gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead in support of lefty Shota Imanaga, but that advantage faded away in the sixth.
Imanaga logged five scoreless frames before giving up a leadoff double to Steven Kwan in the sixth inning. Cubs manager Craig Counsell then handed the ball to righty Ben Brown, who struggled to escape the frame. Brown issued two walks and gave up a pair of run-scoring singles, along with a sacrifice fly to pull the game into a 3-3 deadlock.
Clinging to the one-run lead in the eighth, Counsell turned things over to reliever Jacob Webb, who gave up a one-out, game-tying homer to CJ Kayfus before allowing the next three batters to reach as well. Gabriel Arias connected for an RBI single off Webb and then Austin Hedges added a run-scoring hit off Cubs righty Ethan Roberts.