Earning his first win of the season, Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Adrian Sampson did something he hadn’t done all year against the Orioles on Thursday: throw more than five innings of scoreless baseball.
Before returning home to Wrigley Field tomorrow to begin an eight-game home stand, Chicago stopped at Camden Yards for an afternoon matinee make-up game of a June 8 rainout.
As Sampson dazzled on the mound for 5.2 innings, his performance was matched by Orioles starter Spenser Watkins, who kept the Cubbies bats quiet through five innings of work.
In the midst of what looked like a pitcher’s duel, catcher Willson Contreras broke the scoreless tie as he took Watkins deep for his National League-leading eighth opposite field (18th total) home run of the season in the sixth.
Throughout the afternoon, the Orioles had plenty of chances to puts runs on the scoreboard against Sampson, one of the most notable coming in the scoreless bottom of the fifth inning with runners on the corners and only one out.
With Jorge Mateo at the plate, the speedster laid down a bunt with the aggressive squeeze play in motion but quick reactions by the right-handed pitcher resulted in a shoveled throw with his glove to Contreras to tag out Austin Hays at the plate.
With a slim lead, two eighth-inning home runs, a and pinch-hit by Rafael Ortega, would provide Chicago with valuable insurance runs late as Baltimore would put up rallies in both the eighth and ninth inning.
Bending, but not breaking, another convincing showing by the Cubs bullpen held the home team to only two runs as they tried to mount a comeback.
With a 3-2 lead and their bullpen all but depleted, the Orioles put the winning run on first base with just one out in the bottom of the ninth and All-Star outfielder Cedric Mullins stepping into the batter’s box.
In a lefty-lefty matchup, it was Cubs reliever Brandon Hughes who won the battle and got Mullins to line into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play to secure the Cubs third-consecutive victory.
Beginning a three-game series at home against the Milwaukee Brewers tomorrow night, Keegan Thompson takes the ball against left-hander Aaron Ashby in the divisional series matchup.
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