Game two of this weekend series between the Chicago Cubs and Kansas City Royals was originally slated for 6:15 pm central, but was later postponed due to rain according to CBS Chicago.
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This young team had a rough time trying to figure out the veteran Edinson Volquez, but eventually settled in with a couple hits here and there including Soler’s home run. It was his fourth bomb of the season and his first since May 8 – ending a 22-game big fly drought.
Russell, on the other hand, has played hero earlier this week after sending Chicago (25-22) home to their families with a walk-off double against the Washington Nationals just four days ago. His fourth home run of the season in the seventh inning tied the ball game up at four apiece until Kansas City exploded for another four in the final two frames.
Tonight would have been Tsuyoshi Wada’s second consecutive Wrigley Field start, third overall prior to the game being postponed. Wada (0-0, 2.70 ERA) did make his 2015 on the road in San Diego but is yet to record his first win, having surrendered only three earned runs on eight hits (two HRs) while posting a 15/1 K/BB ratio in his first two outings.
Today was originally supposed to see Jason Hammel pick up the start, but Cubs skipper Joe Maddon wanted to give him an extra day of rest. So Hammel will pick up the series finale vs Royals’ (29-18) Jeremy Guthrie while Kyle Hendricks gets the nod on Monday.
The man who was scheduled to start opposite Wada was Kansas City’s 23-year-old hot-head, Yordano Ventura. Ventura (3-4, 4.64 ERA) has had four quality starts this season despite having issues with opposing teams. He’s been in multiple altercations in his young career, the most recent being a brawl with the Chicago White Sox that resulted in fists being thrown and players getting ejected.
The Cardinals tagged him for four earned runs on five hits including a two-run blast by Matt Carpenter in the sixth inning that eventually kicked-off their four-game losing streak. He’ll finish May with a 1-2 record without having the opportunity to even out his record.
Chicago will look to split the series tomorrow with the first pitch slated for 1:20 pm central time. But hey, at least we have Chicago Blackhawks hockey tonight, right?