Homer is Where the Heart Is: Cubs Club Five Bombs to Blow Out Brewers

Given that Thursday’s matinee was part of the black hole that is local Cubs TV coverage, many of you may have missed the fireworks. Early on, the only sparks flying came from the gnashing of teeth over Jon Lester’s always-adventurous pick-off throws, which resulted in 4 stolen bases and a Brewers run in the top of the 3rd.

But with the game tied at 1 in the 5th, the Cubs busted out the lumber and laid the wood to the hapless visitors, putting on a home run display that would have left Bernie the Brewer dizzy had the situation been reversed. Luckily for those of us who might otherwise be forced to read about Lester’s shortcomings, however, it was the red-hot home team getting off.

Dexter Fowler got things started with a laser beam shot that just cleared the basket in right-center, ricocheting off the wall and coming back onto the field to force a review. The next batter was Kyle Schwarber, who was anxious to get back going after a poor performance on Wednesday. All he did was blast a ball into the bleachers in center to give the Cubs a 4-1 lead.

After a Chris Coghlan strikeout slowed the Cubs’ momentum, Anthony Rizzo got the party started again with the inning’s fourth longball, a shot out into the juniper bushes in center. But all good things must come to an end, and thus was the case when Kris Bryant’s ground-out discontinued the power surge.

The Cubs, however, had built a 5-1 lead they would not relinquish. That doesn’t mean they were above adding a little insurance though. With one on in the 7th, Kyle Schwarber came to the plate again and did bad things to a Neal Cotts slider (certainly not the first time we’ve seen that at Wrigley), depositing it out in the leftfield bleachers and scoring Dexter Fowler.

Not to be left out of the action, Chris Denorfia belted a shot of his own in the 8th to turn the game into an absolute laugher. It’s nice to have a game like this in which the Cubs just run away and hide, leaving me content to enjoy the rest of my evening free from the anxiety of last night’s torturous affair. If you were indeed one of those left in the dark by the WLS broadcast, take a few moments to enjoy the videos below.

Well, except for Denorfia’s. I guess he’s not cool enough to earn an embed code from MLB.com.