Chicago Cubs complete unbelievable late-inning rally to stun Atlanta

Never give up. A message for those Chicago Cubs’ fans who have expressed frustrations despite it being an early start. On Saturday, this club proved that they won’t surrender no matter the deficit.

By a show of hands, how many of you lost faith in the Chicago Cubs after the fourth inning of play? Well, if today didn’t show you to slow your roll, I don’t know what will. Either way, we’re celebrating a huge win.

It wasn’t pretty and another Cubs starter struggled out of the gate. Left-hander Jose Quintana (1-1, 8.61 ERA) found himself on the hook for a loss after surrendering seven earned runs before a quick exit.

Skipper Joe Maddon didn’t waste time getting to his bullpen, calling upon Eddie Butler to chew up several innings. Atlanta tagged Butler for two earned runs on five hits through 3 2/3 innings of work.

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Not too bad considering how uncomfortable Jose looked on the mound. Somewhat similar to Yu Darvish after yesterday’s “balk”.

Long before the Cubs began their rally, Albert Almora Jr. tied things up with his first homer of the season in the first inning of play.

Almora ended the afternoon 1-for-2, drawing a walk and scoring twice. He crossed home plate on a Willson Contreras groundout which made it a 9-2 contest in the third.

Unreal late-inning magic

While most fans were already waving the white flag, a miracle at Wrigley Field was about to unfold. Chicago had the bases-loaded for most of the eighth-inning, scoring a total of nine baserunners to grab the lead.

Infielder Javier Baez, who swatted four homers in two days earlier in the week, locked things up at 10-10 with a double. The young infielder has come up clutch for the Cubs dating back to the series in Milwaukee.

He had four RBI in the game, leading the club ahead of Willson Contreras and Ben Zobrist who each had two apiece. Chicago’s pen held Atlanta at bay, yielding only three hits after Butler was pulled.

What’s next?

Saturday’s win sets up a rubber match between a winless Tyler Chatwood (0-2, 4.91 ERA) and Julio Teheran (0-1, 7.07 ERA). Teheran is coming off his best start of the campaign, pitching six innings of two-run ball.

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Hopefully, the Cubs are able to end the weekend with a win as they prepare for the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday.