CHICAGO (AP) \u2014 Ian Happ homered and Mois\u00e9s Ballesteros hit a tiebreaking triple, helping the Chicago Cubs beat the slumping Tampa Bay Rays 6-4 on Friday.<\/p>\n
Happ finished with three hits and two RBIs as Chicago posted its third consecutive victory. Nico Hoerner had two hits and scored twice for the NL wild-card leaders.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
Matthew Boyd (13-8) pitched five innings and allowed four runs in his first win since Aug. 19. The All-Star left-hander is 2-4 with a 5.31 ERA in his last seven starts.<\/p>\n
Christopher Morel hit a three-run homer for Tampa Bay in his first game against his former team. Morel was acquired in a July 2024 trade with the Cubs.<\/p>\n
The Rays lost for the sixth time in seven games.<\/p>\n
Happ capped Chicago’s three-run second with a tying single off Shane Baz (9-12), and the Cubs added two more in the third.<\/p>\n
Hoerner walked and scored on Ballesteros’ first career triple into the corner in right. Ballesteros scampered home when Matt Shaw bounced into a fielder’s choice.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
Tampa Bay got one back on Nick Fortes’ RBI single in the fourth, but that was the last hit of the game for the Rays.<\/p>\n
After Boyd departed, Porter Hodge, Drew Pomeranz, Brad Keller and Andrew Kittredge each worked a perfect inning for the Cubs. Kittredge picked up his fourth save in five chances.<\/p>\n
Key moment<\/p>\n
Happ hit a leadoff drive to right off Edwin Uceta in the fourth, giving the Cubs a 6-4 lead. It was Happ’s 21st homer of the season.<\/p>\n
Key stat<\/p>\n
Boyd picked Everson Pereira off first for the second out of the fourth. It was Boyd’s major league-best 11th pickoff of the season.<\/p>\n
Up next<\/p>\n
Drew Rasmussen (10-5, 2.64 ERA) starts for Tampa Bay on Saturday, and fellow right-hander Colin Rea (10-6, 4.20 ERA) pitches for Chicago.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP MLB: https:\/\/apnews.com\/MLB<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ian Happ homered and Mois\u00e9s Ballesteros hit a tiebreaking triple, helping the Chicago Cubs beat the slumping Tampa Bay Rays 6-4 on Friday. Happ finished with three hits and two RBIs as Chicago posted its third consecutive victory. Nico Hoerner had two hits and scored twice for the NL wild-card leaders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":92031,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2765,896,282,3611,1242,2228,3616,3614,3615,200,936,1238,3612,2723,227,2173,3613,2505,294],"class_list":["post-92029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-andrew-kittredge","tag-brad-keller","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-christopher-morel","tag-colin-rea","tag-drew-pomeranz","tag-drew-rasmussen","tag-edwin-uceta","tag-everson-pereira","tag-ian-happ","tag-matt-shaw","tag-matthew-boyd","tag-moises-ballesteros","tag-nick-fortes","tag-nico-hoerner","tag-porter-hodge","tag-shane-baz","tag-tampa-bay","tag-tampa-bay-rays"],"yoast_head":"\n