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 CHICAGO -- The host Cubs took advantage of friendly winds with five
home runs while right-hander Jason Hammel reclaimed his form on
Sunday in a 9-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves to complete a
four-game sweep.
"Sometimes you get the wind blowing out and you get in the basket
and sometimes it doesn't even get to the outfield," said third
baseman Kris Bryant, who went 3-for-4 with two home runs. "Today was
a good day to hit and I think we took advantage of it."
The Cubs jumped to a 7-0 lead after three innings on four home runs.
Prevailing westerly winds helped balls to right and center fields,
but it didn't seem to affect the two shots to left field either.
Hammel, who had three straight no-decisions this month, worked 6 1/3
innings for his longest outing since pitching seven innings against
Miami on July 3.
"Long time coming I guess," he said. "It's a lot easier to pitch
with a lot of run support and it allows me to be more aggressive. It
was the first time I felt like me in a while."
The victory put the Cubs (71-51) a season-high 20 games above .500
after sweeping their fourth four-game series of the season for the
first time 1945.
It was also their first four-game sweep of the Braves since 1968.
The Cubs are now two wins away from matching their 2014 victory
total and are on pace for 94 wins. Atlanta (53-71) has now lost
seven straight.
Braves right-hander Matt Wisler (5-4) lasted less than three innings
in his 12th career appearance and suffered his second straight loss.
He is now winless in his last five starts.
"We needed a win today," Wisler said. "I didn't give us a good
chance to be in the game. I gave up seven in the first three
innings. It's really hard to come back from that. I left a couple
pitches up today and the ball was just up."
Center fielder Dexter Fowler slugged his career-best 14th home run
of the season to open the Cubs first.
Fowler took the 1-0 pitch from Wisler and deposited it in the
left-field bleachers for a 1-0 lead.
Four batters later, Bryant sent a towering shot to right for his
18th homer of the year. The first-pitch shot also scored first
baseman Anthony Rizzo for a 3-0 Cubs lead.
Left fielder Kyle Schwarber joined the homer parade in the second
with his 11th of the season, a two-out solo blast to left for a 4-0
Chicago lead.
Rizzo and Bryant reached in the third inning with none out and
catcher Miguel Montero launched the Cubs' fourth homer of the game
for a 7-0 Chicago lead. It was his 13th homer of the season and
second in two days.
Wisler then gave up a single and walk and was pulled in favor of
left-hander Andrew McKirahan. Wisler allowed seven runs on six hits,
walked three and struck out two over 2 2/3 innings.
"People have seen you now, (so) you gotta go out there and can't get
away with mistakes. You gotta throw the fastball and gotta pitch to
weaknesses," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "You got another
month, you keep running them out there, they'll be better off for it
next year."
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Atlanta broke the shutout in the fifth, scoring twice on Hamel as
catcher Ryan Lavarnway homered to center to lead off and left
fielder Nick Swisher singled home center fielder Cameron Maybin with
two out.
Bryant clubbed his second homer of the game on a full count to lead
off the Cubs sixth and open a 9-2 lead. It was his 19th homer and
marked his third multihomer game of the season.
Hamel faced one batter in the seventh and departed in favor of
left-handed reliever Clayton Richard after pinch hitter Eury Perez
lined out to second.
Hamel gave up two runs on six hits, walked one and struck out eight
while throwing 105 pitches, 70 for strikes.
"I thought he was really sharp, much better command of everything,"
said Cubs manager Joe Maddon. "Everything was working, so I know
he's leaving the ballpark today feeling pretty good about himself."
The Braves pushed across one run in the seventh as Swisher picked up
his second RBI with a two-out single that drove in Maybin to make it
9-3.
NOTES: Braves LF Nick Swisher displayed prowess on both sides of the
plate over the weekend with two homers on Saturday -- one as a
left-handed batter in the second inning and later as a right-handed
batter. It was the 14th time in his career he has homered from both
sides of the plate. ... Atlanta returns home on Monday to open a
nine-game homestead. Braves RHP Julio Teheran (8-6, 4.32 ERA) goes
against Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa (7-5, 4.50 ERA) in the first of
three games. The Braves play 25 of their final 38 at home. ...
Chicago hosts Cleveland in a makeup game at 1:05 p.m. on Monday and
then departs on a six-game West Coast trip. ... The Cubs send LHP
Jon Lester (8-9, 3.58 ERA) against Indians RHP Corey Kluber (8-13,
3.58 ERA). ... Cubs CF Dexter Fowler homered to lead off Sunday's
series finale, his career-high 14th of the season. He entered Sunday
with a .452 on-base percentage since the All-Star break, which is
third best in the National League. ... Cubs 3B Kris Bryant continues
to lead NL rookies and, after two home runs, he now has 74 RBIs for
the season.
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