WASHINGTON – Center fielder Rafael Ortega was supposed to be a short-term solution when the Cubs recalled the 30-year-old from Triple-A Iowa in late May, but since joining the team all he’s done is hit. Ortega was arguably the Cubs’ best hitter in the month of July, slashing .368/.419/.544 with five doubles, a triple and a home run.
Ortega was starting to see more time in the lineup before the Cubs’ moves at the deadline and with more regular at-bats available, but in Sunday’s 6-5 loss, the veteran outfielder showed why he’s getting those chances.
The center fielder had a historic afternoon in the Cubs’ series finale in DC, slugging three homers in the Cubs’ loss to the Nationals.
“This is incredible,” Ortega said after his three-homer game. “it’s something that you don’t really think could happen, especially to me. I thank God for letting me continue this run that I’m on right now. To do what I’m doing. I really dedicate this to God first and my family, especially my family in Venezuela.”
Before Sunday’s game, there were a lot of things Ortega had never accomplished in the big leagues. One of those was hitting a leadoff homer in a game, but he got that out of the way quickly.
Ortega started off fast with a solo shot three pitches into the game that gave the Cubs a quick 1-0 lead. Not only was it the first leadoff homer of his career, it was also the first time he’s homered in consecutive days after his homer in Saturday’s 4-3 win.
“He’s on fire,” manager David Ross said. “He’s been such a catalyst at the top for us since moving up there. He was a really big bat off the bench. He’s locked in. Great approach. It feels like he’s in every bat.”
There was nothing Ortega couldn’t do on Sunday and when the Cubs needed a big hit, his spot in the order came up. magic wasn’t done there. In the sixth inning, Ortega blasted another homer, this time a two-run shot, making it a 4-3 game.
It marked the first multi-homer game in his career.
But Ortega had one more trick up his sleeve. After the Nationals scored a run in the seventh inning to give them a 5-3 lead, the Cubs’ lead-off man came through in another big spot.
Ortega crushed a two-run shot in the eighth inning into the upper deck to tie the game at 5 and put an exclamation point on an incredible day. He tied a franchise record with the three homers. It was the first time it’s been done since Kris Bryant did it on May 17, 2019, also in Washington.
“I never had a feeling like this like I have right now in my career,” Ortega said. “When you have bad days, I had bad days in the past, I just kept my head up. I think that’s what helped me to be here right now doing what I’m doing.”
He is also the first Cubs left-handed hitter with three homers in a game since Brant Brown on June 18, 1998 vs. Philadelphia. And the first Cubs’ lefty to hit three homers on the road since Rick Monday, May 16, 1972 at Philadelphia.
He finished the game, going 4-for-4 with three homers and drove in all five Cubs runs in the game, which the Cubs lost on a walk-off homer by Yadiel Hernandez. It capped an incredible series against the Nationals, going 8-for-13 with a double and four homers.
“I think he’s just getting comfortable,” Ross said. “He didn’t have a lot of run early on and coming off the bench and the role he was in, just getting hits. … It’s a lot of line drives left center, right center. The power is just showing up as the ball is getting in the air. But he’s been hitting the ball hard.”
