Chicago Cubs drive in early runs to claim series opener from Athletics

Before the Chicago Cubs took the field against the Oakland Athletics, outfielder Jorge Soler was activated from the disabled list while Joe Nathan designated Joe Nathan for assignment. He came through with a huge hit in his first-bat.

Well, it’s safe to say that the Chicago Cubs (67-41) are on a bit of a hot streak after sweeping the Miami Marlins at Wrigley Field before hitting the road. Joe Maddon‘s first-place club didn’t waste time putting runs on the board, making starter Dillon Overton‘s life miserable in the first inning of play.

Leadoff man Dexter Fowler, batting right-handed with a southpaw on the mound, crushed his ninth home run of the season out to left field, giving Jon Lester a 1-0 advantage.

Lester (12-4, 2.93 ERA) was brilliant on the mound earlier on but hit a snag in the sixth inning. He held the Athletics (48-61) to two earned runs on six hits while issuing zero walks, and striking out eight.

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Oakland put together a little comeback in the sixth when Brett Eibner hammered his fourth home run of the season. Bruce Maxwell recorded his first double of the year and scored on a RBI single off the bat of Marcus Semien which made it a four-run ballgame.

We’ll jump back to the very first inning of play where Anthony Rizzo and Addison Russell strung together a few hits to bring Soler up to the plate with two outs. Jorge jumped all over the third pitch of the at-bat, sending a line drive three-run home over the left field fence, making it 4-0.

Maddon penciled him in as the designated hitter where he finished the game 1-for-4 with a strikeout in his return. He struggled while on assignment prior to being activated but it’s great to see him leaving the yard.

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Coming in second in RBI for the night was infielder Javier Baez. Not only did Baez help pad Chicago’s lead but he made what is expected to be a Top 10 play on ESPN’s SportsCenter.

Javier drove in both Soler and Jason Heyward on his 15th double of the campaign, extending the Cubs lead out to 7-0. Heyward pushed Ben Zobrist across home plate with a RBI single of his own out to former Milwaukee Brewer, Khris Davis.

Huge offensive showing and a strong two innings split between Carl Edwards Jr. and Joe Smith helped the Cubs keep their lead in the N.L. Central to 9.5 ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals.