Robel García and the Cubs' bats wake up in Fourth of July win

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The Robel García story already felt like an amazing tale of redemption and that was before he played a crucial part in the Cubs’ impressive offensive display on the 4th of July. In an 11-3 Cubs win that contained 15 hits from the North Siders, García went 3-for-5 with a home run and a triple.

The 26-year old rookie showed no fear in his approach at the plate, being aggressive from the start. After collecting a strikeout in his first at-bat, García tripled in the top of the third inning and then singled in the top of the fifth.

With the cycle watch in full effect, García enticed Cubs faithful even more with a 416-foot home run hit out to center field.

Unfortunately, García couldn’t nab the ever-elusive cycle as he struck out against Pirates reliever Chris Stratton in the 9th. Nonetheless, an awesome day at the plate was already wrapped up for García. It is obvious from Robel’s numbers that he had a great day but it may not be common knowledge just how close he was to making MLB history. No player in league history has ever hit for the cycle in their first career start.

The Cubs had an offensive outburst as a team, with there actually being two separate cycle watches throughout the game outside of García. Kris Bryant—who started off the scoring for the North Siders with a homer in the top of the first inning—and Willson Contreras both finished a triple short of the cycle.

This game provided a critically-needed boost of confidence for the Cubs heading into their two-game set coming up with the crosstown White Sox. Before Thursday’s win, the North Siders had lost four-straight games and had the Cubs faithful quite concerned in the process. The fourth of July win ties the Cubs with the Milwaukee Brewers atop the NL Central and gives a legitimate reason for optimism as we inch closer to the All-Star break.

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