CHICAGO – Craig Kimbrel got a little help settling in at Wrigley Field.
Kimbrel dodged trouble for a save in his season debut when new teammate Anthony Rizzo dived into first base for the final out, and the Chicago Cubs rallied from five runs down to beat the Atlanta Braves 9-7 Thursday afternoon.
“The first one’s always the tough one,” Kimbrel said.
Called up from Triple-A earlier in the day, Kimbrel struck out Brian McCann looking and induced a groundout from Johan Camargo to start the ninth inning. Ronald Acuna Jr. then hit a ground-rule double into Wrigley Field’s ivy, and Dansby Swanson walked on four pitches.
Freddie Freeman grounded sharply down the first-base line, and Rizzo fielded and had to dive for the bag to beat Freeman to it after Kimbrel failed to cover first.
“I feel like I’m still ramping up a little bit,” Kimbrel said. “It might be a little bit until I’m full bore with all I’ve got, but right now it felt pretty good.”
Kimbrel earned the 334th save of his MLB career and did it against his original team. The Cubs finalized a $43 million, three-year contract with the 31-year-old free agent on June 7, then sent the right-hander to the minors to get himself ready.
He hadn’t pitched in the majors since facing the Los Angeles Dodgers while playing for the Boston Red Sox in the World Series last fall. After the season, Kimbrel declined a qualifying offer from the champion Red Sox.
Victor Caratini’s two-run homer capped the Cubs’ four-run fifth inning that put them ahead for good. Kyle Schwarber also went deep for Chicago, which got three RBIs from Jason Heyward on a warm day at Wrigley with steady wind blowing out to left.
Freeman hit his 22nd homer of the season, a two-run shot, and Ozzie Albies continued to feast on Cubs pitching with a solo drive and a single for two RBIs. Swanson drove in three runs in the final regular-season game between the National League’s current East and Central division leaders.
The four-game series was a split, but Atlanta took five of seven for the season.
Freeman had a hunch he’d face Kimbrel, his teammate in Atlanta from 2010 to 2014.
“Things were just kind of going to fall into place for him to get into the game,” Freeman said. “Craig looked good. I think he was in the 98 (mph) area today.”
Kimbrel pitched in four games for Iowa, allowing one run and two hits in 3 2/3 innings. Cubs manager Joe Maddon said he won’t use Kimbrel for “more than three outs early on.” On Thursday, he nailed it down after relievers Steve Cishek, Brandon Kintzler and Pedro Strop each tossed an inning.
Chicago starter Tyler Chatwood (4-1) escaped with the win despite allowing six runs, six hits and four walks through five innings. Josh Tomlin (1-1) took the loss after Atlanta starter Bryse Wilson allowed six runs (four earned) in 4 1/3 innings after being called up from Triple-A Gwinnett.
Chatwood made his third start this season and second in a week as the Cubs juggled their rotation with Kyle Hendricks still sidelined.
Schwarber lined the leadoff homer of his MLB career to right in the first to give Chicago the game’s first lead.
Albies’ RBI single in the second tied it, and the Braves jumped ahead 4-1 in the third. Swanson’s double to the left-center gap drove in Acuna from first. Freeman followed with a two-run, opposite-field shot to the front row of the bleachers in left.
Swanson drove in two more runs with a single to center to extend Atlanta’s lead to 6-1 in the fourth. Chicago came back with three runs in the bottom half – two on a Heyward single and a third on a wild pitch by Wilson.
The Cubs scored four times in the fifth on a rally capped by Caratini’s line shot to right off Tomlin to take an 8-6 lead.
Albies homered off Steve Cishek in the sixth, but Daniel Descalso came home on Tomlin’s wild pitch in the bottom half.
Both teams had two players announced Thursday night as NL starters for the MLB All-Star Game on July 9 in Cleveland. For Atlanta, it’s outfielder Acuna and first baseman Freeman. For Chicago, it’s shortstop Javier Baez and catcher Willson Contreras.