Chicago Cubs Find Ways To Win, Walk Off On Wednesday

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The Chicago Cubs continue their winning streak, extending it to six games. This time, it was in walk-off fashion in extra innings after blowing a lead in the ninth.

Chicago Cubs /

Chicago Cubs

Even when things go bad, they turn out well for the Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs won again against the Milwaukee Brewers, this time in walk-off fashion, after Hector Rondon blew a save opportunity with two outs in the ninth inning.

Miguel Montero, who could not get to two wild pitches that eventually allowed the tying run for the Brewers to score, helped both himself and Rondon by hitting a walk off home run in the tenth.

The Cubs are now 64-48, the fourth-best record in all of baseball. In fact, the Cubs would be in first place in every division except for the American League Central and National League Central.

After Ryan Braun hit a home run in the first inning to put the Brewers on top 1-0, Kris Bryant tied the game in the second with his 16th home run and his 66th RBI of the season.

Addison Russell put the Cubs ahead with a RBI single in the fifth, and it looked like that would be enough to give the Cubs the win.

Then the ninth inning happened.

Once again, the back-end of the bullpen struggled.

The last time Rondon was up for the save, he loaded the bases before striking out the side.

To be fair, it was not entirely Rondon’s fault, but it was mostly his own shakiness that hurt the Cubs. Addison Russell had a throwing error on a play that should have been a double play. Braun was at second and Adam Lind on first.

Rondon then threw a wild pitch that moved the runners over to second and third. Then he struck out the next two batters and had a 2-2 count on Khris Davis before he threw another wild pitch, allowing Braun to score the tying run.

If the Cubs are to continue this magical season, something has to be done about the closer situation. The blown save on Wednesday was the bullpen’s 15th of the season, tied for tenth-worst in MLB.

Rondon has barely been scored upon since June when he lost his closer’s job, but he’s gotten himself into some trouble before getting himself out of those jams. He could not get away with it on Wednesday, but the Cubs won anyway.

With the Cubs victory and losses by the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants, the Cubs are now 1.5 games behind the Pirates for the top Wild Card spot and 4.5 games ahead of the Giants for the second Wild Card spot.

Brewers manager Craig Counsell marveled at how hot the Cubs are. “This is a team on a roll right now. At times, you play teams during different stretches, and this is a team that’s playing well, playing with a lot of confidence right now. Everything is going their way. We have to upset that somehow.”

In the sixth inning, first baseman Anthony Rizzo made one of the best plays of the year. On a foul fly by Braun, Rizzo went out, stepped on top of the tarp, then the brick wall, and leaped into the stands, making the catch and throwing the ball back before falling onto the seats.

It was a marvelous play and is an example of how Rizzo will do anything on offense AND defense to help the Cubs get into the playoffs.

The Cubs finish off the series with the Brewers on Thursday. They send out Jon Lester, trying to even up his record (he has a 7-8 record, 3.22 ERA). The Brewers have Tyler Cravy, who has a 0-3 record, and a 5.40 ERA. The Cubs will try to win their seventh game in a row for the first time this season, and sweep the Brewers for the second time in two weeks.

Next: Top Ten All Time Chicago Cubs By Position

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