Cubs pitcher Ben Brown will start Friday's game against Rangers
Two hours after their 8-3 victory Thursday, the Cubs announced that Ben Brown will start the opener Friday of the three-game series against the Rangers.
Manager Craig Counsell said Brown, who started 15 games for the Cubs last season and has been the team’s most reliable reliever this season, was under consideration to be added to the rotation in the absence of injured left-hander Matthew Boyd.
Boyd underwent surgery to remove a torn part of the meniscus cartilage in his left knee Thursday morning, the team announced. The procedure, called an arthroscopic partial meniscectomy, is designed to ease pain and locking in the knee. Boyd is expected to be on crutches for a few days before beginning rehabilitation.
Counsell said the Cubs anticipate that Boyd will miss six weeks.
“We know he’s going to miss six weeks,’’ he said. “That’s what we’re hoping for. Obviously, we’ll see how it goes. I think the important thing is, how much time he misses throwing. The knee’s gonna recover quickly, but how much throwing downtime do we have.’’
Asked about Brown taking Boyd’s place in the rotation, Counsell said: “I think just covering the innings is kind of what we’re thinking about. So yeah, that’s one of the things we’ve talked about, absolutely.’’
Brown said he would be open to starting.
“Yeah, whatever it is, just put my best foot forward,’’ he said. “I like where I’m at. So whatever it is.’’
Brown said he didn’t think it would take long for him to be stretched out as a starter. Counsell said he has made a point of giving Brown multiple innings. He went 3„ innings in each of his first two appearances this season, and has gone at least two innings in eight of his last 10 appearances. He has thrown a team-high 25‰ innings out of the pen, posting a 2.10 ERA while striking out 10 and walking eight. Four of those walks came in his first three appearances.
Brown started last season in the rotation, but was dropped after a rough outing on June 23 in St. Louis, when he allowed eight runs and nine hits in five innings, including four home runs. He made one start after that, on July 27, when he allowed just three hits and a run in a 5-4 win over the White Sox.
Roster moves
Corbin Martin, who inherited a 4-2 lead in the ninth inning Wednesday and gave up three runs without retiring a batter, was designated for assignment Thursday. To take his place on the roster, the Cubs promoted right-hander Gavin Hollowell from Triple-A Iowa. He had 15 strikeouts in eight innings in Iowa.
In Martin’s last three outings, he had allowed eight base runners (four hits, four walks) and six earned runs while retiring just three batters.
Walk-off wonders
With a bases-loaded walk in the 10th inning in the Cubs' 7-6 win against the Reds on Wednesday, Michael Busch became the fourth player in franchise history to be credited with a walk-off RBI in consecutive games. Busch singled home ghost runner Dansby Swanson with the winning run in the 10th inning of the Cubs' 3-2 win over the Reds on Tuesday.
Starlin Castro (2015), Ron Santo (1966) and Bob Will (1961) are the other Cubs to have accomplished the feat. Santo did it most dramatically with two extra-inning home runs, a 12th-inning, three-run home run off Ted Abernathy of the Braves on May 28, 1966, then a 10th-inning solo home run off Billy O’Dell the next afternoon.