Bryant's first slam comes off a position player
Cubs rookie slugger takes Murphy deep during rout of Indians
CLEVELAND -- When outfielder David Murphy trotted in from left field to take the mound for his second career pitching appearance with the Indians trailing by a large margin during their 17-0 loss to the Cubs on Wednesday night, he was hoping to simply rear back and blow the ball past everyone, just like in high school.
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The batters he was tasked to face included Addison Russell, Dexter Fowler and Kris Bryant.
"I guess these aren't high school hitters," Murphy said after the game.
After an error, a walk, a single and a hit batsmen, Murphy had loaded the bases for Bryant, the 23-year-old wunderkind. It went about as well as expected.
Murphy missed badly on a high pitch to fall behind 1-0, then saw Bryant foul off a 79-mph "fastball" and crush a 1-1 pitch for his first career grand slam, giving the Cubs a 17-0 lead. It was the eighth home run of the season for Bryant and scored the final runs in the most lopsided shutout win in Interleague history. The previous record was held by the A's, who defeated the Giants, 16-0, on June 26, 2005.
"I was going to make a joke that he's on my fantasy team," Murphy said. "No, I don't have a fantasy team. I think it was a fastball, belt high and it split the plate."
Bryant's hitting streak was extended to a Major League-high 13 games with a sixth-inning single, giving him the longest hitting streak by a Cubs rookie since Jerome Walton's MLB rookie record 30-game streak in 1989.