When the backup catcher takes the mound, the game is already gone
Jhonny Pereda is a catcher. He finished Sunday night on the mound. That single detail covers most of what happened at T-Mobile Park.
The Chicago Cubs beat the Seattle Mariners 19-2 to dodge a sweep in a series they had opened badly and never looked comfortable in. The scoreboard did the rest of the talking.
Two grand slams in one game. Ian Happ, then Pedro Ramirez. Five RBIs each. Only the fourth time in franchise history that two Cubs have gone deep with the bases loaded on the same night.
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Three straight walks, then the foul pole
Happ’s swing was the one worth rewinding. Bryce Miller had just walked three hitters in a row with two outs. Bases full, count against him, and Happ pulled the ball down the right-field line and off the foul pole. Number 22 on the season.
Miller left the game at 4-8.
Ramirez got his in the eighth, off Pereda. By then Seattle had stopped pretending there was a game left to save.
Conforto and Crow-Armstrong piled on
Michael Conforto started the damage in the third with a leadoff shot, his 11th. Pete Crow-Armstrong added another later.
Four home runs, two of them with the bases loaded. One of those nights where every Chicago swing seemed to find a gap or a seat.
Seattle still took the series, having won the first two. The Cubs just walked out of the ballpark feeling considerably better about it.
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