{"id":4232,"date":"2025-06-22T03:42:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-22T03:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/4232\/"},"modified":"2025-06-22T03:42:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T03:42:11","slug":"chicago-cubs-outslug-seattle-mariners-10-7-on-steamy-windy-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/4232\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Cubs outslug Seattle Mariners 10-7 on steamy, windy day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ian Happ is a solid home run hitter, having belted more than 20 four times in his first eight seasons with the Chicago Cubs, including twice hitting 25.<\/p>\n

So, when the calendar turned to June and he had just three to his name in 2025, the switch-hitting left fielder was concerned.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re sitting there with three homers and it\u2019s definitely frustrating,\u201d Happ, 30, said. \u201cYou want to do more and help more. But I\u2019ve done this long enough that it\u2019s going to show up at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n

It has shown up in June.<\/p>\n

Big time.<\/p>\n

The veteran has gone deep eight times this month, including twice in the first two innings Saturday in a 10-7 win over the Seattle Mariners in front of 39,047 at Wrigley Field on a hot, humid and windy day that made every ball hit in the air an adventure.<\/p>\n

Kyle Tucker, Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong also homered for the Cubs (46-30), with Crow-Armstrong notching his team-high 21st of the season.<\/p>\n

Happ, who had four RBIs, passed Kris Bryant for 15th place on the Cubs\u2019 all-time home run list with 161.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really cool,\u201d Happ said. \u201cBeing here and being available \u2026 being on a list with those guys who are all-time Cubs great is really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Happ has homered in three straight games and led off the last two finding the seats \u2014 the first Cub to accomplish the feat since Anthony Rizzo on June 13-14, 2017, against the Mets in New York.<\/p>\n

\n

Photos: Chicago Cubs beat Seattle Mariners 10-7 at Wrigley Field<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

After three pitches Saturday, Mariners starter Emerson Hancock already had given up Happ\u2019s leadoff homer into the left-field bleachers, followed by Tucker\u2019s into the right-field seats to set the tone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the nature of the elements, it was good for us to jump out to a lead,\u201d Happ said. \u201cYou knew you were going to have to score some runs to win that game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cubs were trying to keep the Mariners\u2019 Cal Raleigh in the park and nearly succeeded, but he hit a solo shot in the ninth off Daniel Palencia for his major-league-leading 30th of the season. The switch-hitting catcher does not have the star power of Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani \u2014 yet \u2014 but that could be coming.<\/p>\n

He went deep twice in Friday\u2019s 9-4 win at Wrigley, breaking Johnny Bench\u2019s record for most home runs by a catcher before the All-Star break with 29. And the break is still three weeks away.<\/p>\n

Raleigh had a chance to do some huge damage in the sixth, but Cubs reliever Brad Keller struck him out with runners at first and third and one out. Keller (3-0) inherited the first-and-third situation and struck out the side. He also fanned Julio Rodriguez and Jorge Polanco.<\/p>\n

\"MarinersMariners pitcher Trent Thornton, center, loses his balance as teammates keep him from falling in the eighth inning against the Cubs on June 21, 2025, at Wrigley Field. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)
\n\"MarinersMariners pitcher Trent Thornton is helped off the field after losing his balance in the eighth inning against the Cubs on June 21, 2025, at Wrigley Field. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Manager Craig Counsell called Keller the MVP of the game for that sequence.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did a heck of a job \u2014 it was a great inning,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cIt was early to go to him, for sure, but at that spot and with the guys they had coming up, you\u2019re kind of going for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keller said it was hot and steamy in the Cubs bullpen the whole game, but he picked up even more heat when he stepped onto the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a heat blast, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d Keller said. \u201cRunning in, I didn\u2019t want to throw my warmup pitches because I wanted to conserve all of the energy that I can. But it was hot for everybody. I\u2019m from Georgia and I\u2019ve felt the heat before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Early in the game, Crow-Armstrong was befuddled in center field by two wind-aided fly balls, and Happ was caught off guard by one as all three fell for hits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made adjustments after the first couple of innings,\u201d Happ said. \u201cThey were a couple of tough ones that fell. You\u2019re trying to get behind the ball as much as you can, but everything in your brain is telling you from all of the fly balls you have had in the past \u2026 to recalibrate can be challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n

The heat \u2014 it was 94 degrees at first pitch and likely hotter on the field \u2014 got to plate umpire Chad Whiston, who left the game after five innings. Dexter Kelly took over behind the plate in the sixth, and the game went on with three umpires.<\/p>\n

Whitson was dealing with dehydration, but a Major League Baseball spokesman said he was doing better Saturday night and had been cleared to work third base for the series finale.<\/p>\n

Mariners reliever Trent Thornton wobbled on the mound with one out in the eighth. He was helped off by training staff.\u00a0A Wrigley Field staffer had a heat-related medical issue right after the game, according to a Cubs spokesman.<\/p>\n

The Cubs set up cooling and misting stations throughout Wrigley to help fans with the heat, along with additional emergency personnel. The team had similar plans in place for Sunday \u2014 when it could be even hotter<\/a> for the series finale \u2014 along with bringing in a city bus to use as a cooling station on the street.<\/p>\n

Before the game, the Cubs recalled right-hander Nate Pearson from Triple-A Iowa and designated lefty G\u00e9nesis Cabrera for assignment.\u00a0Pearson was 3-1 with a 2.22 ERA in 19 appearances with Iowa, including a start. He opened the season with the Cubs and was 0-1 with 10.38 ERA in eight outings.<\/p>\n

\u201cNate\u2019s been throwing the ball well,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cHe struggled a little when he was sent down to Triple A. We\u2019re working on getting him back to a good place and we feel like we\u2019ve made some progress there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune. Associated Press contributed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Originally Published: June 21, 2025 at 7:38 PM CDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ian Happ is a solid home run hitter, having belted more than 20 four times in his first…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[5607,4711,960,1271,1816,5604,5386,1818,5605,5606,1277,1288],"class_list":{"0":"post-4232","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-brad-keller","9":"tag-cal-raleigh","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-cubs","12":"tag-craig-counsell","13":"tag-ian-happ","14":"tag-il","15":"tag-illinois","16":"tag-kyle-tucker","17":"tag-michael-busch","18":"tag-pete-crow-armstrong","19":"tag-seattle-mariners"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114724952132414181","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}