![\"Phillies](\"https:\/\/bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com\/wfmz.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/1\/01\/101f492f-6cb1-443c-bdc8-2a7129a2c19d\/69def463b8aec.image.jpg?resize=400%2C225\")
<\/p>\nPHILADELPHIA \u2014 Any time Nico Hoerner comes to the plate with runners in scoring position, the Chicago Cubs feel good about their chances.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Hoerner has been a driving force early on for a Cubs lineup still looking to be a more consistent run-producing offense. So, it was no surprise on Tuesday against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park when Hoerner delivered a timely hit with the bases loaded in a tie game during the sixth inning. Down 0-2 in the count, Hoerner went back up the middle on Phillies lefty reliever Tim Mayza\u2019s sinker over the middle of the plate for a two-run single.<\/p>\n
The Cubs\u2019 four-run sixth inning, capped by Alex Bregman\u2019s two-run single with the bases loaded two batters later, helped them pull out a 10-4 win over the Phillies.<\/p>\n
Through their first 17 games, Hoerner is slashing .303\/.397\/.455 and 144 wRC+ with a team-leading 13 RBIs.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, I feel like he\u2019s going to put the ball in play somewhere hard and going to come through for the boys. He\u2019s started off really well, feel like he\u2019s hitting all pitch types, making contact, swinging at good pitches to hit,\u201d said Bregman, who finished with a three-hit, three-RBI game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a mature group, and obviously I don\u2019t think anyone\u2019s really felt like they\u2019re at the top of their game really to start the season, but it\u2019s a bunch of guys who know how to compete and know how to get the most out of it, even when they\u2019re not feeling good,\u201d Bregman said. \u201cSo I feel like we\u2019ll get this thing rolling and we\u2019ll get guys locked in and be right where we need to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the Cubs\u2019 inconsistency producing runs through the first three weeks of the season, they have been elite at putting pressure on opposing pitchers, including Tuesday when they went 6-for-18 with RISP. Their 204 plate appearances with runners in scoring position this season are the second-most in the majors. Although they haven\u2019t been fully taking advantage of those RISP opportunities, the Cubs keep putting runners on base, in part through a collectively patient approach (12.4% walk rate, second in MLB).<\/p>\n \u201cEven the stretches where we haven\u2019t produced offensively, a lot of the walk rates have been pretty high from our group, and I know it\u2019s a bit of a trend around baseball right now, but it just speaks a lot to the floor of the group when you always have traffic, and starters aren\u2019t going deep into games, you\u2019re getting deep into bullpens and over time that\u2019s really going to play for sure,\u201d Hoerner said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd there\u2019s going to be stretches where you just don\u2019t get the big hit, but you keep giving yourself that opportunity over and over with a relentless group and I love our chances.\u201d<\/p>\n Right-hander Colin Rea gave the Cubs exactly what they needed. Rea took the bulk of the innings following lefty Riley Martin\u2019s perfect opening frame that required just six pitches to retire the top of the Phillies\u2019 order. Edmundo Sosa made Rea pay for leaving a slider too much over the plate, his three-run home run putting Philadelphia ahead in the second.<\/p>\n Rea, though, was methodical after that sequence. He retired 15 of the next 16 Phillies he faced following the long ball, allowing just one baserunner. Rea gave the Cubs six much-needed innings for a depleted bullpen.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had people up in the sixth inning, we ended up putting a big number on the board, and he went out and gave us two more innings, so credit to Colin,\u201d manager Craig Counsell said. \u201cHe\u2019s just a pro, and he\u2019s just really solid.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cubs (8-9) navigated a dicey situation in the eighth, holding a four-run lead as the Phillies threatened.<\/p>\n Philadelphia quickly brought home a run on Trea Turner\u2019s one-out single off Jacob Webb. Counsell then turned to veteran lefty Caleb Thielbar, who had to work out of a jam. He got pinch hitter Alec Bohm to strike out on a four-pitch sequence that left the bases loaded. Carson Kelly\u2019s three-run home run in the ninth allowed Counsell to stay away from closer Daniel Palencia with the Cubs\u2019 lead extended to six runs.<\/p>\n Counsell thought Thielbar handled the eighth inning perfectly, \u201clike a real pro,\u201d by executing tough pitches to Adolis Garcia, who laid off them to draw a walk to load the bases, then attacking Bohm. A key for Thielbar was, oddly, misfiring an elevated fastball so badly that it went above Kelly\u2019s head to the backstop. He had been struggling to locate his fastball up in the zone and said that wild pitch actually corrected the issue for him. Thielbar got Bohm to whiff on a fastball up and in, then fouled off the next fastball above the zone to set him up to throw a slider down and in for the foul-tipped strikeout.<\/p>\n The Cubs will need more performances like Thielbar\u2019s over the next week or so from potentially unconventional options in key moments because of injuries that have challenged the bullpen\u2019s depth.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is when guys get a chance to prove themselves, it\u2019s fun,\u201d Thielbar told the Tribune. \u201cThere\u2019s going to be a couple games, whether we\u2019re up four or five or down one or two, that some of these guys are going to have to come in in a big situation and really show what they have. \u2026 It\u2019s going to be big for them to get that experience and I think we\u2019ve got some good arms down there.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re kind of digging deep right now. This is what a good organization has is depth so I think we\u2019re going to see that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PHILADELPHIA \u2014 Any time Nico Hoerner comes to the plate with runners in scoring position, the Chicago Cubs feel good about their chances. Hoerner has been a… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":176681,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-176665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Chicago](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagotribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ctc-z-Cubs-Phillies-Baseball_261621326.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1\")
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