Chicago Cubs: Ranking the top five wins of the 2018 season

Everyone has their personal favorite games at the end of each season, but these five Chicago Cubs victories stand out in my mind heading into a new campaign.

In the grand scheme of it all, 2018 was a great season for the Chicago Cubs. Ninety-five wins and a playoff berth for the fourth consecutive year highlighted yet another year filled with excitement and drama. With all of the uncertainty and anxiety during this current offseason, I thought it would be great to rank my top five games from the 2018 regular season.

Chicago Cubs – #5. Cole Hamels Goes the Distance 

8/23/2018: Cubs 7 – Reds 1

The Chicago Cubs acquired left-hander Cole Hamels at the trade deadline to help fix the mistakes made in signing Tyler Chatwood and Yu Darvish. It wasn’t a flashy move at the time by any means, but it’s the most the Cubs could do, and there was a lot of potential.

Hamels had gotten off to a great start in Chicago, but when he took the hill against Cincinnati on Aug. 23, the Cubs knew they had made a great move. The Reds got off to an early lead, as they scored in the first to make it 1-0. However, the Cubs quickly answered in the bottom of the first as Rizzo nailed a two-run homer.

After this, it was cruise control.

Baez added a 481-foot solo shot in the third to make it 3-1. The Cubs were able to add four more runs throughout the course of the game to help cushion their new savior in Hamels. Cole was able to go the distance and get the Cubs a 7-1 victory. He finished with a line of nine innings pitched, eight hits, one earned, two walks and 7 K’s.

Hamels improved his record in Chicago to 4-0 with an ERA of 0.79. This win propelled the Cubs to complete a four-game sweep of the Reds, avenging the previous four-game sweep the Reds had completed earlier in the year. A win that showed Cubs fans they had a starter to round out the rotation and one that they could count on down the stretch. An all-around feel-good game in Chicago that comes in at #5 on my list.

Chicago Cubs – #4. Baez’s Monster Day in LA

6/26/18: Cubs 9 – Dodgers 4

Coming into this one, the Cubs had lost five in a row and needed a spark from someone. Javier Baez proved to be that guy. After a strong start from Jon Lester but a sluggish one from the offense, the Cubs trailed 1-0 after four innings.

Baez came to the plate in the fifth and tied it up with a solo shot. Then, the very next inning, after the Cubs had earned a 3-2 lead, Baez came back to the plate and broke it open with a grand slam, making it 7-2. Baez finished the game going 4-for-5 with four RBI and the Cubs won 9-4.

Lester earned his tenth win of the season and the Cubs proceeded to win 9 of 11 from there on. If fans weren’t on the Javy MVP train before this one, they were now. An awesome outing from the Cubs ace, a spark from El Mago and the offense and a win against the defending NL Champs puts this one at #4.

Chicago Cubs: #2. Rizzo-Bote back-to-back FTW

7/26/18: Cubs 7 – D-Backs 6

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In a huge series with playoff implications in late July, the Cubs battled Arizona on a beautiful day at Wrigley. In a 2-1 ballgame led by Arizona in the fifth, Nick Ahmed cracked a grand slam to make it 6-1. The Cubs added two of their own in the fifth and one in the sixth to make it a 6-4 ballgame.

Chicago couldn’t get anything going until the bottom of the ninth. Things looked bleak as Bradley Boxberger, Arizona’s lock-down closer entered the game. However, Zobrist managed to get on base and with one out, David Bote stepped up to the plate. Bote ripped a two-run shot to left center to tie the ball game.

Pandemonium in Chicago ensued as Bote came up in the clutch. The magic didn’t end there. Anthony Rizzo came up next and on the second pitch he saw, roped a ball into the right field bleachers.

Ballgame.

The Cubs went back-to-back to tie and win the game, something so rare and something so special for this team. A 7-6 victory at Wrigley and a game that finds its way to the #2 slot.

Chicago Cubs: #4. Bote, Bote, Bote, Bote – rockin’ everywhere

8/13/18: Chicago Cubs 4 -Nationals 3

After splitting the first two games against the Nats, the Cubs found themselves on Sunday Night Baseball facing ace Max Scherzer. Per usual, Mad Max showed up and showed out for his Nats, throwing seven scoreless innings while striking out 11.

The bullpen was able to contain the Cubs in the eighth, and after a few insurance runs, Washington took a 3-0 into the bottom of the ninth, on the verge of winning a season-changing game. With nothing doing on offense all game, there was little hope that anything would happen.

But all of the sudden, with Ryan Madsen pitching for the Nats, the Cubs started to get baserunners. Jason Heyward singled, Albert Almora and Willson Contreras both got hit by the pitch and, just like that, the bases were loaded.

With two outs, David Bote stepped up. With the clutch performances he showed Cubs nation earlier in the year, there was some hope that just maybe, he could send the Cubs home victorious. And with a 2-2 count, Bote did just that. He smashed a ball all the way into the center field shrubbery. A walk-off slam and a miraculous, improbable 4-3 win for the Cubs. Undoubtedly the craziest win of the Cubs 2018 season, and for that reason, it finds the top spot.

The Cubs truly did have a great 2018 season filled with so many feel-good moments. With a ton of energy and youth to build on, 2019 has the potential for a lot more greatness.