Christopher Morel clubbed a long two-run homer in the ninth inning and Drew Smyly threw six strong innings as the visiting Chicago Cubs beat the Minnesota Twins 6-2 on Friday night in Minneapolis.
Starting in place of Nico Hoerner, who went on the injured list with a hamstring strain prior to the game, Morel provided some key insurance for the Cubs with his opposite-field bomb into the second deck in right-center to highlight a three-run ninth.
Yan Gomes delivered a tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh for the Cubs, Ian Happ finished with three hits and Smyly (4-1) yielded two runs and four hits to keep his team in the game after falling behind 2-0. Chicago moved back to .500 with its second straight win.
The Twins, who managed just four hits and scored both of their runs in the second inning, dropped to 4-6 in May. Starter Sonny Gray allowed a run, four hits and struck out nine with a walk over 94 pitches, but he lasted just 5 1/3 innings. He maintained the major league lead with his ERA of 1.39.
Down 2-1 in the seventh, the Cubs tied it when Patrick Wisdom singled and scored via Matt Mervis’ double off the base of the center-field wall. They took the lead on Gomes’ run-scoring single to right off Griffin Jax (2-5).
Minnesota opened the scoring in the second, helped by some poor Chicago defense. Kyle Farmer reached when Morel misplaced a ball at second base, a play that went for a hit. Farmer went to third on Willi Castro’s ground-rule double, and he scored as catcher Gomes couldn’t hold an inaccurate throw from third baseman Patrick Wisdom on Michael A. Taylor’s grounder. Christian Vazquez’s sacrifice fly gave the Twins a 2-0 lead.
After Gray yielded only a single by Happ through the first three innings, the Cubs scored in the fourth. Dansby Swanson opened with a walk, went to third on Happ’s double and scored on a sacrifice fly from Seiya Suzuki.
Chicago’s Adbert Alzolay didn’t allow a hit in two innings of relief.
–Field Level Media
