Anthony Rizzo said he didn't care whether the Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals or a team in the College World Series, he just wanted to get back to winning ways.
The Cubs did that Friday afternoon and it just so happened to be against those rival Cardinals.
Rizzo backed up his talk by walking the walk, scoring the winning run as the Cubs beat the Cardinals 3-2 in front of 41,051 fans at Wrigley Field Friday evening.
Dexter Fowler returned to Chicago, traded jokes with Rizzo, received his World Series ring and promptly led off the game with a homer nearly out of the stadium.
John Lackey gave up another run in the second inning, but settled in from there and let the offense claw its way back.
Rizzo - who walked his first three times up - drilled a leadoff double over the glove of Cardinals left fielder Magneuris Sierra in the eighth inning.
The face of the Cubs then motored to third base on some heads-up baserunning on Ben Zobrist's grounder and scored on Jason Heyward's sacrifice fly.
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As soon as Heyward made contact, Rizzo began clapping and celebrated all the way back to the bag to tag up.
It was the second time Heyward had driven in Rizzo on the afternoon following Heyward's double in the sixth.
The victory snapped a six-game losing streak for the Cubs and they've taken the first step toward that "contagious winning feeling" Rizzo so desperately searched for.
"It's always weird when you lose when you're so accustomed to winning," Rizzo said. "But that's the way the game works. Everything is not gonna be perfect. It's how you respond to it.
"You definitely learn about yourself going through struggles as a person. ... If you're having success, it's easy to be happy."