Cubs Schwin, Cubs Schwin, Cubs Schwin
When the Cubs have needed a big hit lately, first baseman Frank Schwindel has been at the plate.
And with the game on the line in their 4-3 victory Monday, Schwindel came through again.
The Cubs and Reds were tied at 3 going into the bottom of the eighth inning, and after pinch hitter Alfonso Rivas led off with a 10-pitch at-bat that resulted in a single and moved to second on a wild pitch, Schwindel came to the plate.
“I was borderline giddy in the dugout, thinking, ‘It can’t happen again, can it?’ ’’ interim manager Andy Green said. “We were laughing over there just by the sheer fact that he was up with the opportunity to do something special again. And, thankfully, he controls his emotions better than me and [associate pitching coach] Mike Borzello do because we were just laughing that it keeps happening right now.”
With cheers of “Frank the Tank” raining down from the fans at Wrigley Field, Schwindel poked a single through the right side of the infield to score Rivas from second.
It was the fourth consecutive game with a winning hit for Schwindel, who also had another multihit game.
The Cubs extended their winning streak to a season-high seven games.
Bote activated from 10-day injured list
The Cubs activated infielder David Bote from the 10-day injured list before the game.
Bote had been on the injured list since Aug. 28 with a sprained right ankle suffered when he stepped on a baseball.
Bote’s activation came about an hour before first pitch.
He has a slash line of .202/.270/.339 with eight home runs and 32 RBI in 78 games.
To make room for Bote on the active roster, the Cubs designated infielder Andrew Romine for assignment.
Infielder Nico Hoerner went through a full pregame routine of baseball activities with Bote.
He took batting practice, fielded ground balls and ran the bases. Hoerner has been on the injured list since July 29 with a strained right oblique.
“They’re moving forward,” Green said. “David is closer than Nico. Nico [took] some BP on the field today. I haven’t gotten a report on how that went. Hopefully, it went very well.”
Minor-league debut for Wicks
Cubs 2021 first-round pick Jordan Wicks made his pro debut Sunday for High-A South Bend.
Wicks, 22, tossed a scoreless inning with one strikeout. The Cubs drafted Wicks out of Kansas State with the 21st overall pick in July.
A southpaw, Wicks had been pitching at the Cubs’ complex in Arizona since the draft but will spend the final weeks of the season at South Bend.
“Every time you go to a new level, you get excited competing against new guys,” Wicks said in July.
“Just the newness and the excitement of it, and I’m excited for the new experiences to learn along the way.”