Javier Baez knocks in the winning run, as the Chicago Cubs walk off.
Javier Baez lifts the Chicago Cubs in the bottom of the 11th inning en route to victory Sunday.
Chicago was 6-2 on the season with a series sweep of the National League Central rival Pittsburgh Pirates at home within reach. It was a rainy afternoon in Chicago, but one where the Cubs had to grind out a victory over a team they are clearly better than. Then in the bottom of the 11th inning, Baez delivered the game-winning base knock and it was a thing of beauty.
Baez took Pirates right-hander Cody Ponce’s offering right up the middle to plate third basemen David Bote. Chicago won 2-1 in extra innings, as the North Siders improved to 7-2 on the year. Conversely, Pittsburgh drops to a dreadful 2-7 mark on the young campaign. While the Cubs look like they’ll be playing in the postseason, how soon before Pirates players start mailing it in?
Could the Chicago Cubs win the World Series in the strangest year ever?
Well, if the young 60-game, coronavirus-shortened 2020 MLB season ended today, and let’s hope for the love of all things good in this world it does not, the Cubs would have the No. 1 seed in the National League with a 7-2 record and a 77.8 winning percentage, edging out the Colorado Rockies (6-2) and the Atlanta Braves (7-3) for the best record in the Senior Circuit.
Again, the Cubs still have 51 games left to be played this season. Surely, they’ll have their ups and downs like every team in baseball will have. While Chicago wasn’t picked as a top-two or top-three contender to win the National League Pennant this year, anything is possible. If the team keeps playing this hard for new manager David Ross, maybe they do have a deep run in them?
Looking at the rest of the National League, your usual suspects are at the top of the standings with the likes of the Braves out of the NL East and the Los Angeles Dodgers out of the NL West. Though teams like the Miami Marlins and the Philadelphia Phillies have only played three games up to this point because of a COVID-19 outbreak, Chicago’s hot start doesn’t look to be a fluke.
Despite Pittsburgh’s best effort, Chicago ekes one out in extra innings to pull off the series sweep.