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Chicago Cubs: Kyle Schwarber CRUSHES grand slam to take lead over Cardinals (Video)

By Dan Schmelzer

Jun 3, 2017; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Cubs left fielder Kyle Schwarber (12) hits a grand slam home run during the seventh inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 3, 2017; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Cubs left fielder Kyle Schwarber (12) hits a grand slam home run during the seventh inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports /
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Chicago Cubs slugger Kyle Schwarber bust out of his slump to hit a massive grand slam to give his team the lead over the St. Louis Cardinals. See the long drive here.

This Saturday afternoon matchup between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals has been extremely interesting. Earlier, we saw Jon Lester actually pick off a base runner! But it had primarily been a game controlled by the Cardinals.

That is until Kyle Schwarber stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Schwarber’s big grand slam gave the Cubs a 5-3 lead over their bitter division rivals.

And a look from inside the stadium where the Cubs’ fans went absolutely insane.

Give that one a long look big guy. Schwarber admired that one and for good reason. That home run was a thing of beauty. Entering the game, Schwarber was hitting .163/.284/.337 on the season. He has still shown good plate discipline and power in spurts but overall, Schwarber has been awful.

So awful in fact, that Joe Maddon dropped him down to the ninth spot in the order to take some pressure off. It would not be wise to think that one swing of the bat will instantly get Schwarber out of his season-long slump but this is the kind of hit that could get him going.

Schwarber entered the season as the Cubs leadoff man. Without a traditional leadoff man on the roster, Joe Maddon wanted to get his best hitters at the top of the lineup. That included putting the slugging Schwarber right at the top. However, the unintended consequence of that move was Schwarber seeming to adjust his approach at the plate and lose confidence quickly once it did not work well.

Next: Will Bryce Harper end up in Cubbie Blue?

Maddon has finally moved Schwarber down and I doubt that we see him back at leadoff again. His powerful bat is better utilized in the middle of the order anyway. As we saw on Saturday, Schwarber can generate a lot of quick offense with his powerful bat when there are runners on base.

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