Chicago Cubs have plenty of experience in torturous, extra-inning baseball

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As the Chicago Cubs sat at home last weekend, we witnessed one of the longest, perhaps most bizarre game in postseason history in the World Series.

The Chicago Cubs and the rest of the baseball world were treated to an instant classic late Friday night and very early Saturday morning. Game 3 of the World Series between the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers turned into a wacky, record-setting, marathon that would seemingly never end.

The Dodgers ended up beating the Red Sox 3-2 in 18 innings in the longest World Series game ever. Previously a Fall Classic game had never exceeded 14 innings.

The contest lasted seven hours and 20 minutes – the longest game in postseason history by nearly an hour. The previous record was Game 2 of the 2014 NLDS between the Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants, which lasted six hours and 23 minutes.

To put time in some even more crazy perspective, Game 3 took longer than the entire 1939 World Series between the New York Yankees and Cincinnati Reds. The Yankees swept the Reds in four games that spanned just seven hours and five minutes total. Just think about that for a second, the entire 1939 World Series was 15 minutes shorter than just Game 3.

In Game 3, 46 of the 50 players available between both teams were used, also a World Series record. The only four players that didn’t make an appearance were Boston’s Drew Pomeranz and Chris Sale and Los Angeles’ Rich Hill and Hyun-Jin Ryu. Each team also used nine pitchers to combine for 18 total in the game. Which, you guessed it, is a Fall Classic record.

Chicago Cubs: This was a game for the ages

In a game that clearly didn’t feature a lot of offense, there was plenty of action. Joc Pederson got the scoring started for the Dodgers in the third inning when he took Rick Porcello deep to right field on a solo shot.

Leading 1-0 still in the eighth inning, the Dodgers took no chances and brought in closer Kenley Jansen for a six-out save in a must-win game. Things didn’t go as planned as Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a game-tying solo home run to right field with two outs.

The game went into extra innings tied 1-1 and the Red Sox had the first chance to score. With one out, J.D. Martinez drew a walk in the top of the 10th inning and Ian Kinsler was called on to pinch run for him. Later, with Kinsler at third base, Eduardo Nunez hit a ball to center field, Kinsler tried to score but was thrown out by Cody Bellinger.

The game then featured two very bizarre scoring plays that both occurred on errors in the 13th inning. The Red Sox scored their run when Nunez hit a dribbler back to the mound and pitcher Scott Alexander overthrew first base. This allowed Brock Holt to score all the way from second base.

Max Muncy led the Dodgers half inning off with a walk and advanced to second base when Bellinger fouled out to third base. Yasiel Puig then hit a ground ball to the second baseman Kinsler, who slipped and threw the ball away, allowing Muncy to score from second and tie the game.

Ultimately, Muncy walked it off for the Dodgers when he led off the bottom of the 18th with a home run to left center off Nathan Eovaldi. The marathon finally ended at 12:30 A.M. Pacific time and the two teams were set to play Game 4 later that day at 5:09 P.M. Pacific time.

Now, while I was watching this game, completely uninvested from afar, I kept saying, “Good thing the Cubs are not a part of this game.” If Chicago had been playing, I would have had all the nervous ticks going, from butterflies in my stomach to constant pacing, all in hopes of the Cubs coming out on top.

This all got me thinking about recent Cubs extra-inning postseason games that could compare to the Game 3 18-inning affair. Three different games came to mind that gave all the similar feels of the Red Sox and Dodgers instant classic.

Chicago Cubs: Rockies shut down Cubs offense in Wild Card game

The Cubs’ demise at the hands of the Colorado Rockies in the 2018 Wild Card game is the most recent matchup that comes to mind. This grueling game lasted four hours and 55 minutes in the longest postseason contest ever at Wrigley Field. Ultimately, the matchup ended with the Rockies eliminating the Cubs from the postseason picture with a 2-1 victory.

The game featured very little offense but the Rockies got started right off the bat in the top of the first inning. Charlie Blackmon led the game off with a walk and D.J. LeMahieu followed that up with a ground-rule double. The next batter, Nolan Arenado then drove in Blackmon from third on a sac fly to center field.

After the first inning, Jon Lester did his best to keep the Cubs within striking distance. He settled in and struck out nine batters over his six innings of work, allowing just four hits and one walk.

With the Cubs trailing early, the pressure was immediately on the offense to get the bats going against a young pitcher in Kyle Freeland. However, the left-hander rose to the occasion, shutting the Cubs out over the course of 6 2/3 innings. He allowed just four hits and one walk, striking out six batters.

The Cubs offense had their best chance to strike in the seventh inning when they finally got Freeland out of the game. With Albert Almora already on first base, the new pitcher Adam Ottavino uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Almora to move up to second base. Ottavino then walked Willson Contreras and pinch hitter Tommy La Stella reached first base on a catcher’s interference.

Chicago Cubs: Questionable decisions that would haunt the Cubs

With the bases loaded and the pitcher’s spot coming up, Joe Maddon had to decide between Jason Heyward or Kyle Schwarber. Maddon elected to go with Heyward, who struck out swinging, leaving the bases loaded.

The Cubs were running out of chances still trailing 1-0 in the eighth inning when Anthony Rizzo delivered a single. Maddon elected to have Terrance Gore pinch run for Rizzo. The speedster immediately stole second base. Javier Baez then delivered an RBI double, driving in Gore from second, tying the game at 1-1.

It was a costly run to score, however, as the Cubs lost Rizzo for the remainder of the game after using Gore to pinch run for him. Gore came to bat twice before the game ended, striking out both times. You never know, but those could have been two big spots to have Rizzo bat in, as opposed to a guy who can’t hit his weight.

The Rockies scored the game-winning run in the top of the 13th inning off Kyle Hendricks. They delivered three-straight, two-out singles, the final one coming from backup catcher Tony Wolters.

This was a heartbreaking loss for the Cubs as their offense just flat-out didn’t show up. Maddon attempted to pull out all the stops, using 23 players in the game. They even brought in a pair of starters in Cole Hamels and Hendricks in the defeat. In the end, though, it wasn’t enough.

Chicago Cubs lose thrilling Game 3 against San Francisco Giants in 2016

Up two games to none in the NLDS, the Cubs were looking to sweep the San Francisco Giants in just three games. Throughout the course of the 13-inning, five-hour contest the Cubs had plenty of chances but fell short as the Giants won, 6-5.

The Cubs got off to a start that would have made you believe they were destined to win that game. With two runners on in the bottom of the second inning, Jake Arrieta drilled a three-run homer off ace lefty Madison Bumgarner. It was a huge moment for Arrieta and the Cubs, as those were the only runs they got off Bumgarner.

While the offense stalled over the next couple of innings, the Giants were in chip-away mode. They scored one run in both the bottom of the third and fifth inning to trim the Cubs’ lead to 3-2.

The Giants then struck for three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 5-3 lead going into the ninth inning. Hector Rondon led the inning off by walking Buster Posey and then Travis Wood allowed a single to Brandon Belt.

Maddon elected to bring in Aroldis Chapman with runners on first and second and one out to attempt a six-out save. Chapman then surrendered a two-run, go-ahead triple to Conor Gillaspie on a ball that just got over the head of Almora in right field. Brandon Crawford came up next and delivered an RBI single up the middle to extend the Giants lead.

The Cubs looked dead in the water but they had the heart of their lineup coming up in the ninth inning. Dexter Fowler led off with a walk and Kris Bryant followed with a game-tying two-run homer.

Then, once more, Chicago seemingly ran out of gas as they struggled to get anything going on offense. In the 13th inning, Mike Montgomery was going out for his fifth inning of relief and didn’t have enough left in the tank. Crawford led off the frame with a double off Montgomery and Joe Panik followed it up immediately with a game-winning RBI single off the right-field wall.

This was a rollercoaster of a game that had a number of highs and lows for both sides. The Cubs probably should have closed the series out on this night but they didn’t capitalize enough at the plate. This set up Game 4 the next night, in which the Cubs rallied once more to clinch the series.

Chicago Cubs: The biggest game in franchise history

Saving the best and most memorable game for last, it’s, of course, the Cubs’ triumph over the Cleveland Indians in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. It was a game that featured everything from unbelievable highs to tremendous lows.

The Cubs started off the game on the biggest high imaginable when Fowler led off with a solo home run that barely got over the wall in center field. As he rounded the bases he backpedaled around first, staring into the Cubs dugout to fire up his team. Fowler became the first player in Game 7 history to lead off with a home run.

After the Indians tied the game at 1-1, the Cubs scored four straight runs to take a 5-1 lead. With the offense producing and Hendricks pitching lights-out on the mound, the Cubs almost looked like they could cruise to the finish line with a comfortable lead.

But following a two-out walk allowed by Hendricks, Maddon lifted him from the game for Jon Lester and his personal catcher, David Ross. The move was certainly questionable as Hendricks was in quite a groove and had only thrown 63 pitches through 4 2/3 innings.

Jason Kipnis greeted Lester with a seemingly harmful infield single but Ross overthrew first base. Carlos Santana advanced to third while Kipnis moved up to second base on the error. Then on an 0-1 count, Lester threw a pitch in the dirt that bounced and hit Ross in the facemask. That allowed both Santana and Kipnis to score, narrowing the Cubs lead to 5-3.

Chicago Cubs: Just a rollercoaster of a game

That was certainly not what anyone was expecting when Lester and Ross came into the game but Ross quickly made up for his miscues. When the Cubs came to bat in the top of the sixth inning, the veteran backstop drilled a solo home run to center field off Andrew Miller.

Again it felt like fate was on the Cubs’ side that night. Lester retired the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the eighth inning until Jose Ramirez reached first base on an infield single. Maddon didn’t waste any time and put in the heavily used Chapman to get the final four outs.

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Brandon Guyer greeted Chapman with an RBI double to right center that scored Ramirez all the way from first base. Rajai Davis followed that up with a game-tying line drive home run down the left field line. All of Chicago fell silent as they were suddenly reminded of goats and curses of the past.

Neither team produced any more runs and the game was set for extra innings. Then a 15-minute rain delay took place, seemingly working out in the Cubs favor.

After everything settled the Cubs scored two runs in the top of the tenth inning to take an 8-6 lead. Ben Zobrist delivered a clutch RBI double down the third base line that drove in Almora from second base and sent Rizzo to third base. After an intentional walk to Addison Russell, Miguel Montero drove in Rizzo with a single to left field.

The Indians, of course, made it interesting in the bottom half of the inning. Davis drove in another run with a single to center field. The Cubs kept the stress level all the way up even until the final out. On the last play, Bryant fielded a ground ball and almost looked as if he slipped as he made the throw to Rizzo at first to end the game.

Next. . dark

This was just an epic game that went back and forth from start to finish. It was an affair that lasted four hours and 28 minutes, but it felt like it took years off my life. It was the most stressful and agonizing Cubs game I’ve ever watched, but let me tell you this. It was sure worth it.

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