Cubs 10, Phillies 2: The Ian Happ game

This game, of course, does not erase the numerous problems the 2024 Chicago Cubs still have.

It was, though, a reminder of what these players are capable of doing — and who knows, maybe they’ll continue doing it.

The Cubs exploded for double figures in runs for the first time since April 16 in Arizona — and they lost that game, 12-11 in 10 innings. They scored 10 at home for the first time since April 2 against the Rockies, a 12-2 blowout. Yes, it’s been that long since this sort of offense has been seen at Wrigley Field from the home team.

And Ian Happ had himself a day, going 4-for-4 and switch-hitting three-run homers for a six-RBI afternoon that was the most RBI from any Cubs player since Patrick Wisdom homered twice and had six against the Reds June 30, 2022. All of this helped lead the Cubs to a 10-2 thrashing of the NL-best Phillies.

Let’s begin at the beginning, which began depressingly similar to just about every recent Cubs game. Jameson Taillon was touched up for a run in the first on two singles, which normally wouldn’t produce a run except after the first of those hits, Trea Turner stole second, where he was able to score on Brandon Marsh’s single.

The Cubs went down pretty meekly in the first three innings, and that included getting runners on first and second with nobody out in the second, only to see Christopher Morel, Dansby Swanson and David Bote all strike out.

Then Nick Castellanos homered off Taillon in the fourth and the way things have been going, that seemed like an almost insurmountable 2-0 deficit.

Not on this day, though!

The Cubs had themselves an inning in the bottom of the fourth. Cody Bellinger led off with a walk and Seiya Suzuki singled.

That brought up Happ [VIDEO].

Just like that, the Cubs had the lead. And they were not done in that inning! Morel flied to center, but Swanson walked and was doubled to third by Bote.

This ground out by Tomas Nido scored run number four [VIDEO].

And one more for good measure, Nico Hoerner’s RBI single made it 5-2 [VIDEO].

The Cubs batted around in the fourth so Bellinger again led off the fifth. This time, he singled before a Suzuki single and, then, Happ again [VIDEO].

That was it for the Cubs in the fifth, now leading by six, and here are some fun Happ homer facts from BCB’s JohnW53:

Today’s game was just the 14th in which a Cub has hit a pair of three-run homers at Wrigley Field. It was the Cubs’ 8,522nd game at the park, in which they have hit 7,244 homers, 837 of them with two on base.

They had played 1,080 games and hit 1,196 homers at Wrigley since the last Cub homered twice with two aboard: Aramis Ramirez, on July 20, 2010, vs. the Astros. That was the third time Ramirez did it.

Ten others before Happ did it once: Hack Miller (1922), Hank Sauer (1952), George Altman (1960), Ernie Banks (1969), Jim Hickman (1972), Rick Monday (1976), Keith Moreland (1982), Leon Durham (1984), Roosevelt Brown (2001) and Geovany Soto (2008).

And, with one of Happ’s homers hit righthanded and the other lefthanded, it was the first such day for any Cub since Victor Caratini did it at Pittsburgh almost exactly five years ago, July 3, 2019. (The Cubs lost that game, too, 6-5.) The last time before today a Cub had switch-hit homers in a game at Wrigley Field was May 29, 2013, when Dioner Navarro did it against the White Sox in a 9-3 blowout win.

Also, Happ’s second dinger was crushed! [VIDEO]

While all this was going on, Taillon was throwing a really nice game, several of the middle innings going by in just six or seven pitches. He got helped out by some slick defense.

Patrick Wisdom, in the fourth [VIDEO].

Swanson, in the fifth [VIDEO].

All told, Taillon threw seven innings and allowed just four hits, only two of those after the first. He didn’t walk anyone and struck out seven. He’s just been outstanding this year. Here’s a breakdown of Taillon’s outing [VIDEO].

And here are Taillon’s seven strikeouts [VIDEO].

The Cubs tacked on single runs in the seventh and eighth to get to double figures. In the seventh, Suzuki walked, the fourth time he had been on base. Happ followed with a double, his fourth hit, and then this happened [VIDEO].

Morel’s single scored Suzuki to make it 9-2, but Happ was thrown out. Happ probably should have just held at third, but it made for an interesting spectacle at the plate with the two runners so close. If the score had been closer this might have been a complaint department item, but not today.

In the eighth, Nido singled with one out, Hoerner walked and Wisdom looped a single to right to load the bases for Bellinger, whose force play scored run number 10 [VIDEO].

Drew Smyly threw a scoreless eighth and Hector Neris a scoreless ninth. Both innings were a bit messy, but in the end, this is how the victory was completed [VIDEO].

And so, at least for a day, especially on a holiday, this is appropriate:

As I noted above, this game doesn’t fix all or even most of the Cubs’ issues, but it certainly made for an enjoyable afternoon at the ol’ ballyard. Here’s hoping there are more games like this to come.

The Cubs open a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Justin Steele will get the call for the Cubs in the series opener and he will face Angels righthander Griffin Canning. Game time is 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network (and also MLB Network outside the Cubs and Angels market territories).