Chicago Cubs: Tyler Chatwood shines while David Bote plays hero

Chicago Cubs: A dominant showing from start to finish

Chatwood surrendered a leadoff single to Adam Jones in the top of the second inning but worked around it without any damage. Following that single, the Chicago hurler retired the next 10 batters in a row. He walked Ketel Marte in the top of the fifth inning but erased him quickly as he got Nick Ahmed to ground into an inning-ending double play.

On the day, Chatwood pitched six stellar, shutout innings, facing just two batters over the minimum. He allowed two hits, both of which were singles and two walks, both of which were promptly erased via the double play. He only struck out three batters in the outing but showed great control, throwing first-pitch strikes to 12 of the 19 batters he faced.

Chatwood certainly pitched well enough to earn his first win of the year but it wasn’t in the cards. With a 1-0 lead and one out in the top of the ninth inning, Pedro Strop surrendered a solo home run to Jarrod Dyson to tie the game. That blast marked just his 17th career home run in his 10 years in the big leagues. With one swing of the bat Strop blew the save, Chatwood lost a win and the Cubs’ shutout was gone. The game wasn’t over though.

Chicago Cubs: David Bote comes through in the clutch again

The Cubs came to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning with a chance to get the run right back and win the game. Javier Baez wasted no time, leading off the inning with a double down the right-field line and advancing on a fielding error by Jones in right field.

Diamondbacks reliever Archie Bradley plunked Willson Contreras, putting men at first and third with nobody out. After a meeting of the minds at the mound, Arizona opted to pitch to Bote – a decision that was questionable from the start given his proclivity for coming up in big moments – one of which came at the hands of this very ballclub last summer.

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In theory, Bradley could have put Bote on via intentional walk, thus setting up a force at any base with Ben Zobrist coming up to the plate. The pitcher’s spot would follow and at least in my mind, I’d rather pitch to anyone off the bench and take my chances rather than get bit by David Bote.

But, alas. That’s not how it played out.

With the infield drawn in for a play at the plate, Bote stepped in and hit a smash through the right side of the infield to drive in Baez and win the game.

No stranger to the theatrics, there’s no one else Cubs fans wanted up in that situation. Bote, of course, has come through in the clutch for the team so many times in the past that you pretty much assumed he would walk it off there.

While Baez provided the offense and Bote played hero again, the real story of the day was still Chatwood. That looked like the guy the Cubs thought they were getting when they signed him to a three-year, $38 million deal two winters ago.

If Chatwood were to consistently pitch like that the Cubs would need to find a spot for him to pitch. Jon Lester is on his way back to the rotation so barring another injury it’s not likely to see Chatwood in the rotation again anytime soon.

This might sound crazy to some of you, but with the news of Brandon Morrow being shut down, possibly for good, maybe Chatwood could move into a late-inning role in the bullpen. Look, I know it was just one really good outing but if he pitches like he did Sunday on a regular basis, he could be an effective arm out the bullpen in the late innings.