Roughly four hours after Anthony Rizzo carried the World Series trophy out onto Wrigley Field to show off to the Cubs fans in attendance, the face of the franchise delivered the game-deciding hit.
New Cub Jon Jay scored the walk-off winner on Rizzo's two-out hit as the Cubs pulled off a 3-2 win in the bottom of the ninth in the Wrigley Field opener.
However, thanks to a rain delay that lasted nearly two hours, this Cubs victory came early Tuesday morning as most of the 41,166 fans in attendance had gone home to warm up and stay dry after a 36-degree windchill at first pitch.
It was a festive atmosphere at Wrigley - a "special night," as Joe Maddon, Jon Lester, Addison Russell and Rizzo all used that same phrase to describe the dreamlike sequence that played out at the "Friendly Confines."
Jay pinch hit for Albert Almora and led off the 9th with a single to right field. Pinch-hitter Tommy La Stella advanced Jay with a groundout to shortstop. Kris Bryant struck out to follow, but Rizzo fought off a tough pitch into the left-field corner to plate Jay.
Sporting another Maddon lineup that paid tribute to the World Series team, the Cubs jumped out to an early lead behind Lester with a Bryant RBI double in the third inning to score Kyle Schwarber.
The next inning, Russell came around to score on Lester's fielder's choice.
MLB
But the Dodgers mounted a comeback against Lester and the Cubs bullpen, plating solo tallies in the sixth and eighth innings, the latter coming on an Addison Russell throwing error.
Lester finished with just the one run allowed in six strong innings, striking out seven and surrendering four hits and a walk.
Wade Davis got the win after tossing a scoreless top of the ninth.
Rizzo summed up the night/early morning perfectly:
"I'll remember this day for as long as I play baseball."