The Cubs survived an eventful ninth inning to finish off a 5-4 victory over the Cardinals this afternoon at Wrigley Field.
After entering the top of the ninth inning with a 5-1 lead, Hector Rondon hit with a Greg Garcia with a pitch. Both benches were warned after Kolten Wong was hit twice earlier in the game -- remember the drama from Friday -- so Rondon was immediately ejected. Cubs manager Joe Maddon was also ejected after walking on the field.
Zac Rosscup took over from there and quickly gave up a two-run homer to Matt Carpenter and back-to-back singles to Tommy Pham and Jason Heyward. With the tying run on base, Cubs closer Pedro Strop was asked to escape the jam. He struck out Jhonny Peralta looking before Yadier Molina hit a sacrifice fly to make it a one-run game. That’s when shortstop Addison Russell saved the day:
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The Cubs have won five straight and are now just a half-game back of the Pirates for the top Wild Card spot in the National League.
Per Russell’s Facebook page, this was what the Cubs’ clubhouse looked like after Friday’s win. It’s fair to say it was a fun place to be again this afternoon.
