Ian Happ singled, doubled and homered to help the Chicago Cubs rally for a 6-4 win against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays in the opener of their three-game series on Friday afternoon.
Nico Hoerner singled, tripled and scored twice and Moises Ballesteros had two hits, an RBI and run scored for the Cubs (84-63), who have won three in a row following a three-game skid.
Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd (13-8) surrendered four runs and five hits in five innings. He struck out one and walked two.
Porter Hodge, Drew Pomeranz and Brad Keller combined for three no-hit innings of relief before Andrew Kittredge pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his fourth save.
Rays starter Shane Baz (9-12) went just 2 1/3 innings, allowing five runs and six hits with five strikeouts and three walks.
Christopher Morel hit a three-run homer in the first inning and Jake Mangum had two hits and scored a run for the Rays (72-75), who have dropped six of seven following a seven-game winning streak.
Chandler Simpson began the game with a single to left to cap an eight-pitch at-bat. Yandy Diaz then walked on four pitches before Morel hit a fastball over the fence in left-center field for a 3-0 lead.
Morel was traded from the Cubs to the Rays in July of last season.
Hoerner led off the second with a single to left. He took second on a ground out and scored when Dansby Swanson hit a grounder up the middle that went off the glove of diving shortstop Carson Williams and into shallow center field for a double, cutting the lead to 3-1.
Following a four-pitch walk to Willi Castro, Baz got the second out of the inning, but Michael Busch and Happ followed with RBI singles to tie it 3-3.
Hoerner walked with one out in the third and scored when Ballesteros tripled into the right-field corner to give Chicago a 4-3 lead. After a hit batter and a walk, Baz departed with the bases loaded.
Edwin Uceta entered and gave up a fielder’s choice that scored a run to make it 5-3.
Nick Fortes came through with a two-out RBI single in the fourth to cut it to 5-4.
Happ got the run back with a leadoff homer down the right-field line in the bottom half of the inning to make it 6-4.
–Field Level Media
