CHICAGO – After Shae Simmons had an uncharacteristic hiccup Friday, issuing a bases-loaded walk in the sixth inning of a tie game against the Cubs, fellow Braves rookie Christian Bethancourt picked him up in the ninth by blistering a two-out RBI single up the middle to tie the score again.
But it wasn’t enough. A few wasted scoring opportunities for the Braves and a couple of hits through the infield were difference-makers for the Cubs, who won the series opener 5-4 on Justin Ruggiano’s walk-off single through left side with two out in the ninth inning at sold-out Wrigley Field.
“We kept battling back,” said manager Fredi Gonzalez, whose Braves have lost five of six games since a nine-game winning streak. “We had some opportunities to put big numbers up a couple of times, and that didn’t happen. So sometimes you end up in situations like we had there in the ninth inning.”
Arismendy Alcantara singled through the right side with two out in the ninth against reliever Jordan Walden (0-1) and stole second base. Ruggiano followed with a grounder that nicked the end of shortstop Andrelton Simmons’ glove. That brought home Alcantara and brought other Cubs streaming from the dugout to celebrate a second consecutive win since a six-game losing streak.
The Braves, who had won nine of their past 10 games against the Cubs, need to win the last two games in the three-game series to avoid going to the All-Star break with back-to-back series losses to the Mets and Cubs.
Braves starter Alex Wood was charged with five hits, four runs and three walks with six strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings, but it was hit-by-pitch that was particularly frustrating. He hit catcher Welington Castillo with an o-2 fastball to load the bases with none out in the sixth
“You’ve got a guy on the ropes and you try to go in late in the count,” Wood said. “He was on the (plate) pretty good, but you can’t hit that guy right there. Especially when he’s on the ropes like that.”
Two batters later, Wood gave up a game-tying, broken-bat single through the right side by Chris Coghlan.
“The groundball single by Coghlan, most of those probably doesn’t get through,” Wood said. “You throw a first-pitch breaking ball and then you go in sinker on his hands, get a broken bat and he ends up dribbling a ground ball through. I think that was the biggest thing right there. That changed the game. Typically you hope for a double play out of that, and it ends up squeaking through. I think that’s the decider right there.
“I thought I had him set up pretty good. But sometimes they go your way and sometimes they don’t.”
That was all for Wood, and Simmons walked the next batter, pinch-hitter Luis Valbuena, to put the Cubs ahead. Simmons has been close to perfect in some highly pressurized situations since arriving from Double-A six weeks ago, and he retired the next five batters after his uncharacteristic hiccup Friday.
“He’s a young kid,” Gonzalez said. “That’s probably the first time you’ve seen him do that…. When they pinch-hit (for Mike) Olt with the lefty (Valbuena) we felt pretty good. That’s right up his alley, facing left-handed hitters. I wasn’t expecting a walk. He’s been so dominant, so good.”
Braves came back from a 2-0 deficit after three innings by scoring two runs via productive groundouts in the fourth inning, then took a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning on Freddie Freeman’s two-out double off the ivy-covered center-field wall.
Freeman drove in Wood, who reached on a bunt single to start the inning when Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta’s throw to first hit Wood in the back. It was the first base hit of Wood’s major league career. Jordan Schafer advanced him with a sacrifice bunt, and one out later Freeman nearly hit the ball out of the park but had to settle for one RBI and a double.
Wood couldn’t protect the lead, giving it back in the bottom of the inning after giving up a leadoff double by All-Star first baseman Anthony Rizzo followed by an infield single from Starlin Castro. When Wood he Castillo, wiggle room was gone.
He struck out Junior Lake, who snapped his bat over his thigh in frustration. Coghlan followed with his single that put a charge into a crowd of 39,544, the largest of the season at 100-year-old Wrigley.
“I thought Woody was OK, I really did,” Gonzalez said.
The Braves were 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position to make them 9-for-61 (.148) in those situations over the past six games including five losses.
They failed to capitalize in the eighth after Schafer’s one-out walk. Simmons flied out and Freeman walked to put two on with two out before Justin Upton struck out to end the inning.
Jason Heyward had leadoff doubles in the seventh and ninth innings for the Braves. In the seventh, Chris Johnson followed by striking out. Tommy La Stella advanced Heyward to third with a groundout before Bethancourt struck out to end the inning.
After Heyward doubled again to start the ninth, Johnson lined out to short and La Stella again advanced the runner with a groundout to first base. This time, Bethancourt came through with a single that brought home Heyward.
Bethancourt had a scary moment in the first inning when he a foul tip caromed off his shoulder pad and hit him behind the ear, but he was able to continue after being checked out by head trainer Jeff Porter.
Cubs starter Jake Arrieta, who had been 4-0 with a 0.99 ERA in his previous seven starts, gave up four hits, three runs and three walks in 7 2/3 innings for no decision Friday. He had six strikeouts, and he also drove in the first run of the game with a bunt in the third inning.
“When a guy’s going that good, three runs is usually pretty good,” Johnson said. “We don’t want to be taking too much away from (Arrieta) by saying we could have got a whole bunch more. We kind of took advantage of the opportunities that he gave us, but he was pretty good today.”
The Cubs took a 2-0 lead in the third after a leadoff double by Coghlan and a walk by No. 8 hitter Olt. Arrieta’s sacrifice bunt scored Coghlan, and Ruggiano’s two-out single drove in another run.
The Braves answered with two in the fourth after a leadoff walk by Schafer and a Simmons double. Freeman and Upton followed with consecutive run-scoring ground outs.
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