{"id":80800,"date":"2025-08-20T14:17:27","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T14:17:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=80800"},"modified":"2025-08-20T14:17:27","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T14:17:27","slug":"a-blackout-mentality-owen-caissies-first-home-run-and-rbi-lifts-the-chicago-cubs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=80800","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;A blackout mentality&#8217;: Owen Caissie&#8217;s first home run and RBI lifts the Chicago Cubs"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-v-08416276=\"\">\n<p><strong data-v-08416276=\"\">Published<\/strong>\u00a0 August 19, 2025 5:18pm CDT<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">\n<div data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">\n<div data-v-7f0a623e=\"\" data-v-fa1f2118=\"\">\n<div data-v-fa1f2118=\"\">\n<div data-v-fa1f2118=\"\">\n<div data-v-fa1f2118=\"\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/c107833-mcdn.mp.lura.live\/expiretime=2082787200\/0afc2057437622046a5e3e02efbdff7bb13a1860cce08a78e36279ec207b4ea0\/iupl\/D49\/E0E\/D49E0E10193299E447932FD793D13601.jpg\" alt=\"'A blackout mentality': Owen Caissie's first home run and RBI lifts the Chicago Cubs\" data-v-fa1f2118=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">Owen Caissie wasn&#8217;t thinking about driving his first home run as a Chicago Cub on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">In fact, when he smashed his first career big league homer, the thought never crossed his mind that the ball might leave the park.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">&#8220;Hit the ball and run,&#8221; Caissie said. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t even think about it going over the fence, especially with the wind. It just kind of a blackout mentality.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">That homer put the Cubs up 6-4, providing the kind of insurance run that made the Wrigley faithful breath a little easier. It goes beyond just a home run, too.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">Caissie was the catalyst for the Cubs in Game 1. His day of personal firsts provided moments that were sorely needed.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\">What they&#8217;re saying:<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">The Cubs took Game 1 of a Tuesday double-header vs. Milwaukee 6-4, with most of the big plays happening in the afternoon coming at Caissie&#8217;s hand.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">He hit a two-run RBI single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the first inning. Those were his first RBI as a major leaguer.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">Then, Caissie made two defensive plays in right field with the wind bringing two fly balls back into play where he was able to make the play and record an out.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">Then, Caissie hit his home run. The moments he created in just a single game weren&#8217;t overlooked.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">&#8220;He was the impact in this game that we needed,&#8221; pitcher Matthew Boyd said after Game 1.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">Caissie, who had a bases-loaded situation on Monday but couldn&#8217;t drive any runs in, was in the same situation again on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">&#8220;That&#8217;s what&#8217;s great about baseball,&#8221; Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. &#8220;You have a big at bat yesterday with the base loaded, and then you&#8217;re staring at it again in the first inning of the next game. That was a big hit.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">The Cubs&#8217; rookie embraced the challenge, because he knew he was going to get more chances to make an impact with the Cubs early on as a major leaguer. That mentality paid off for Caissie.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">He didn&#8217;t know it would come that soon, though.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">&#8220;I really just told myself, &#8216;You&#8217;re made for this and step back in the box and do a job,'&#8221; Caissie said. &#8220;I&#8217;m going to have many more opportunities to do that, and today I got one.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\">Dig deeper:<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">Caissie was called up before the Cubs&#8217; series with the Blue Jays, and before the Cubs decided to give star Kyle Tucker a break. He didn&#8217;t play in Games 1 or 2 of the doubleheader on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">The Cubs are a team in a slump. They need something. They saw flashes of it Tuesday. Willi Castro, a trade-deadline acquisition, hit a three-run home run. That ran concurrently with Caissie&#8217;s big day.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">The three RBI both Caissie and Castro drove in during Game 1 were all the Cubs needed. The red-hot Brewers made it a 5-4 game before Caissie&#8217;s solo shot extended some breathing room.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">With the Cubs needing more to stay in the NL Central race, Caissie&#8217;s bat and glove might prove to be imperative in the present day as the Cubs&#8217; stars try to reset and realign.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">&#8220;I&#8217;m just trying to help the team any way possible,&#8221; Caissie said. &#8220;When I can do it, really means a lot.&#8221;<\/p>\n<section data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">CubsSports<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Owen Caissie was the catalyst for the Cubs in Game 1. His day of personal firsts provided moments that were sorely needed for a team that was slumping.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":80801,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[139,44,50],"class_list":["post-80800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-cubs","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&#039;A blackout mentality&#039;: Owen Caissie&#039;s first home run and RBI lifts the Chicago Cubs - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=80800\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&#039;A blackout mentality&#039;: Owen Caissie&#039;s first home run and RBI lifts the Chicago Cubs - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Owen Caissie was the catalyst for the Cubs in Game 1. 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