The Cubs had seven All-Stars and the second-best record in the National League.
The Braves started a pitcher who just seven weeks ago washed out of Class Double-A and was signed off the street.
Who you like? Turns out it wasn’t that simple.
On a wild night at Wrigley, after Nick Markakis’s second homer of the game tied it 3-3 in the ninth inning, Tyler Flowers’ single scored Freddie Freeman in the 11th to send the Braves past the Cubs 4-3 on an long, long night on the Northside.
With two outs and Freeman on second after leading off the inning with a walk, Flowers overcame an 0-for-4 night by punching a grounder through the infield’s right side. Ex-Brave right fielder Jason Heyward made a strong throw home but not in time to catch the sliding Freeman. The Braves ended a four-game losing streak while now vulnerable Cubs fell for the 13th time in 18 games.
“I was hoping I hit it softer than I felt like I hit it so (Freeman) could make around,” Flowers said. “He was focusing on the right things, like his secondary lead. Guys with his kind of speed — my kind of speed — it’s the little things you do to get the chance to score.”
Add a brief benches-clearing moment in the ninth, when Jeff Francoeur and Cubs catcher Willson Contreras exchanged words over an inside pitch — OK, the Cubs were hit by pitches three times and starting pitcher Jason Hammel nearly took one to the head — and this one had a little something for the whole family. It didn’t end until 1:34 EDT.
The save went to fireballer Mauricio Cabrera, who entered the 11th with two Cubs on and no outs, only induce a double play ball from Addison Russell and a game-ending pop-out from Jeimer Candelario on a 92-mph change-up.
This all overshadowed Lucas Harrell, who in his second start as a Brave allowed the Cubs just one run in 7 2/3 innings before leaving the eighth with two outs and a 2-1 lead. Contreras then turned the night inside out with a two-out two-run triple off Hunter Cervenka that gave the Cubs a brief 3-2 lead.
Markakis, who started the night with two homers all year, led off the ninth with his second and recorded the third multi-home run game of his career. He began the night a career .208 hitter in Wrigley.
“You have to be put in these situations,” Markakis said of the Braves’ late-inning response. “When you get put in situations like this against good teams like that, you have to take advantage of opportunities with guys on base. We did that tonight.”
Staked to a two-run lead from Markakis’s first-inning homer, Harrell may not have been exactly domineering but was nimble enough to maneuver into position to win. He drew no decision, despite the Braves going 24 consecutive at-bats at one point without a hit in his support.
“He’s been really, really good,” interim manager Brian Snitker said of Harrell, who has allowed just two earned runs on seven hits in his two starts since being called up from Gwinnett. “He’s very aggressive. I like that. Made some big pitches when he got in trouble.”
The game, which was delayed one hour and 35 minutes by an early evening rain storm, was the makeup of a rained-out April 30 date. Less than half of the 41,480 of the announced crowd were around at the end.
Harrell remains 2-0 record in Wrigley — vs. 17-33 anywhere else — where in 2011-12 as an Astro he beat the Cubs twice in two starts. Counting one relief appearance, he lowered his ERA in the Friendly Confines to 0.79 (2 earned run in 22 2/3 innings.
“Sometimes I got in trouble and I pitched with Tyler in the minor leagues for three years so he knows what I do well and what I don’t do well,” Harrell said. “I just followed his game plan we just made pitches when we needed to.”
“Over all, if you can keep this club from scoring, that’s a pretty good job,” Snitker said.
He allowed four singles, struck out five, walked two and hit Kris Bryant twice but left with Bryant at first with Cervenka brought in to face Anthony Rizzo. After Cervenka hit him with a 3-0 pitch, Ben Zobrist delivered an soft opposite-field RBI double to score Bryant and close the gap to 2-1.
Jim Johnson came in to face Contreras, who lined a ball sharply past a charging Ender Unchaste, the ball going all the way to the wall to clear the bases.
Harrell sailed through the early going until the fourth, when he hit Bryant with a full-count fastball and yielded single through the second base hole to Rizzo. Ben Zobrist whistled a liner up the middle that Inciarte ran down and pitched to second for a double play after Bryant broke too far to third. He ended the inning with a fielder’s choice grounder by Contreras.
An inning later, the Cubs advanced runners to second and third with two outs and ex-Brave Tommy La Stella at the plate. Harrell struck him out on a full-count change-up.
After yielding three hits to the first five Braves he faced, Hammel quickly shut down the lineup, retiring nine straight hitters through the fifth. But with Gordon Beckham leading off the sixth, Hammel drew a visit from manager Joe Maddon due to cramping in his right pitching hand. Maddon allowed him to stay after visiting the mound but then pulled him after he walked Beckham on four pitches.
Markakis provided Atlanta a 2-0 just four batters into the game, launching a 1-0 fastball just inside the right field foul pole for his third home run and scoring Jace Peterson, who had led off the night with a soft opposite-field single. With the homer, Markakis has hit safely in eight of his last nine games. He entered the night batting .313 over his past 17 games.
