CLEVELAND — Miguel Montero only had two hits in the 2016 postseason, but both were massive knocks that wound up being the difference in a pair of wins.
The 33-year-old catcher somehow found a way to one-up his go-ahead grand slam in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Wednesday, when his bases loaded RBI single off Cleveland Indians reliever Bryan Shaw put the Cubs up 8-6 in the 10th inning of Game 7. That opposite-field base hit through a drawn-in infield wound up being critical as Carl Edwards Jr. allowed a run in the bottom of the frame before the Cubs won, 8-7, at Progressive Field to win their first World Series in 108 years.
“I haven’t had too many opportunities, I haven’t played a whole lot,” Montero said. “It was tough. I kept my head up, I kept grinding and looking for my opportunity and when they gave it to me, I gotta be ready.”
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Montero only played in nine of the Cubs’ 17 postseason games, totaling 12 plate appearances and two starts. Opponents were happy to let Montero, who hit .216 with a .684 OPS in the regular season, beat them: Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Joe Blanton intentionally walked Chris Coghlan to load the bases for Montero in Game 1 of the NLCS, and Shaw intentionally walked Addison Russell to get to Montero in Game 7 of the World Series.
In both spots, Montero delivered in monumental fashion.
“You don’t load the bases to face me,” a Budweiser- and champagne-soaked Montero grinned. “The numbers are out there.”