Cubs' Hayden Wesneski replaces bad memories at Chase Field with bullpen-saving performance

Darryl Webb/AP Photos

PHOENIX – At around 1 a.m., right-hander Hayden Wesneski woke up to the sound of his roommate, first base prospect Matt Mervis, knocking at his door.

Triple-A Iowa manager Marty Pevey had been trying to reach Wesneski, who had missed so many calls while he was asleep that his phone had fallen to the floor. The Cubs were recalling him, and he needed to get to Arizona before their afternoon game Wednesday.

“It's just one of those things where you just have to focus on the job,” said Wesneski, who pitched four scoreless innings in the Cubs’ 5-3 win Wednesday against the Diamondbacks. “It's trying to make it as simple as that, right? Like, ‘I’ve got to do this today. OK, let's do it really good.’”

Wesneski's one-hit effort saved a bullpen that had been worn threadbare by back-to-back extra-innings games. Cubs fans behind the visitors' dugout thanked him with a standing ovation as he walked off the field. With the win, the Cubs claimed the series victory, in yet another nail-biting three-game set at Chase Field.

Second baseman Nico Hoerner drew the connection after the first game of the series, which the Cubs won 3-2 in 11 innings.

“Honestly, felt very similar to the games we played here last September,” Hoerner said. “Just wild extra innings, back and forth, big moments. And so, great for our group to come out on top.”

Last September, the Cubs lost all three games. First, they made a valiant comeback effort in the ninth inning but fell two runs short. Then, in a 13-inning game the next day, they had a chance to win when a sharp comebacker hit pitcher Hayden Wesneski in the arm and popped up, but shortstop Dansby Swanson tried to field it on the bounce, and the Cubs were walked off the next play. In the series finale, the Cubs only scored two runs.

Swept by another Wild Card contender, the Cubs’ postseason hopes started slipping away. They’d go on to miss the playoffs, finishing one game back of the Diamondbacks. From the last National League Wild Card spot, Arizona made it all the way to the World Series.

“We were joking, we love extra-innings here,” Wesneski said. “They play tough, they play hard, they're scrappy, right? They're not going to give you anything.

"And, yeah, that [extra-innings lost last year] did hurt. Because – I think about it a lot – we were one game out, if we win that game, it's a little different situation. So I think about that game a lot more than you would think.”

The stakes weren’t as high this week at Chase Field. But the games were just as competitive.

“We can't stop doing that,” left fielder Ian Happ said with a chuckle Tuesday after the Cubs’ 12-11 loss in 10 innings. “We need to finish a game in nine innings.

“We had really good games here at the end of last year. And they're a good team. ... They've got a deep bullpen, lineup's deep, they do a good job top to bottom.”

The Cubs lineup, even without Seiya Suzuki (strained right oblique) showed its depth as Hoerner, Happ and Miguel Amaya all had big offensive showings Tuesday.

Happ’s first home run of the season came in one of the biggest situations he’s stepped into this year. The lead had already traded hands twice. With two outs in the seventh inning, he turned on a cutter up and in and drove it into the Diamondbacks’ bullpen for a grand slam that put the Cubs up 11-8.

“I wasn't thinking about it,” Happ said of his first home run, “but just to get it out of the way, it's nice to put one in the column.”

Of course, because it was the Cubs and Diamondbacks battling it out at Chase Field, it wouldn’t be that easy. The Cubs pitching, including a bullpen that had held up under the pressure of five straight close games, faltered.

This time, however, the Cubs bounced back from that extra-innings loss to win the rubber match Wednesday.

The team headed back to Chicago having gone 5-4 on a tough West Coast road trip. And a sleep-deprived Wesneski prepared to get on a return flight, the same day as his flight out to Phoenix.

"Right now, I'm pretty wired," he said after the game.