Cubs starter Cole Hamels did not have his best stuff on Friday night. Luckily, he had a few buddies on hand to help him out.
“The double play is a pitcher’s best friend,” he said.
Chicago tied an MLB record by turning seven double plays, including a game-ending effort by rookie third baseman David Bote on a grounder by David Freese, to finish off a 1-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Photo: Charles LeClaire, USA Today Sports
The Cubs got six double plays on grounders — five with Hamels pitching — and one on a line drive.
The Elias Sports Bureau said the Cubs became the third team in big-league history to turn seven double plays in a nine-inning game, joining San Francisco in 1969 and the Philadelphia Athletics in 1942.
“Crazy,” Cubs second baseman Ben Zobrist said. “A lot of it is the pitcher doing a great job of getting ground balls and little of it is luck with [the hitters] rolling over on some pitches.”
Pittsburgh had runners on first and second in the ninth, before Jesse Chavez got Freese to ground to Bote. Having hit a game-ending grand slam on Sunday last week to beat Washington 4-3, Bote again was in the right place to cap off a win. He stepped on third and threw to first to cap the win.
“We were in a good spot all the time,” Chicago manager Joe Maddon said. “We made some really good plays and absolutely turned the ones we were supposed to turn.”
Hamels pitched seven innings, Kyle Schwarber hit a home run in the second off Trevor Williams and Chavez got his second save as the Pirates lost their fifth in a row.
“[The infielders] were great with how they stayed with it and pulled them off, especially to end innings in a tight game when you can’t afford one mistake,” Hamels said. “It was outstanding to see.”
“Got them a lot of different ways,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said of the double plays. “There were some balls that were struck really hard. Down in the zone, we would clip the top of them. Handful of other balls hit hard and lined out, so we couldn’t find dirt, grass.”
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