No. 1: July 31, 2016 — Cubs erase six-run deficit with walk-off vs Mariners
Sadly, I was unable to find a picture of the Chicago Cubs celebrating their walk-off win over the Seattle Mariners. A game in which turned the tables for the North Siders after hitting a brick wall before the All-Star break.
On this day, Brian Matusz made his Cubs debut. It was a risk that Joe Maddon was willing to take and honestly, it didn’t pay off in the end. Actually, Matusz turned in one of his worst outings as a big league pitcher after receiving a second chance with the Cubs.
Over the course of the first three innings, Matusz gave up three two-run homers to Seattle, putting him in a huge hole early on. Again, not his best performance as a big leaguer, however, his new teammates would bail him out.
Even though they trailed 6-0, the Cubs were not going to give up. They tallied two runs in the fifth, cutting Seattle’s lead down to four. Zobrist played a huge part in the comeback, making it a three-run game with a RBI triple in the seventh.
All-Star shortstop, Addison Russell, made it a two-run contest with a base knock of his own, scoring Rizzo. Because of the throw, Addison found himself standing on second with one away in the ninth.
Wild Ending
With Matt Szczur in the box, the Cubs tied things up on a wild pitch by Steve Cishek. Neither team would score in the first 2 extra-innings until the home half of the 12th. First, Heyward led off the frame with a double and advanced to third on a Contreras fly-out to center field.
Rather than play it safe, Joe opted to take a risk by bringing in southpaw Jon Lester as a pinch-hitter. And little did we know, it would work. Lester laid down the perfect bunt, resulting in Heyward sliding ahead of the tag and sending Wrigley Field into a frenzy.
A mob of Cubs players stormed the field, surrounding Lester who was pelted with a white powder directly in the face. Not sure how comfortable that was but I’m sure he had trouble breathing afterward. In the end, it was all in good fun.