Game Recap: Kelly clutch as Cubs walk-off Braves in extras

David Banks - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 6 hours ago

CHICAGO - Roughly 24 hours after being walked off by the Rockies, the Chicago Cubs (79-59) found themselves in a similar situation on Monday as they opened a six-game homestand against the Atlanta Braves (62-76). Once again, it was the Cubs getting off to a slow start as the Braves jumped all over Colin Rea to take a 3-0 lead before pushing that lead to 6-1.

From that moment on, it was all Cubs as they began to mount a massive late-game comeback, capped off by the Carson Kelly two-run shot to tie things up in the eighth. Two innings later, and it was Kelly coming through once again as he connected for a walk-off single to give the Cubs a massive 7-6 win in 10.

For the second time in as many starts, Rea struggled on the mound as a mix of command issues and hard contact did him in. Sure, Rea managed to gut it out through four innings, walking three and striking out three, but he also allowed three runs as he seems to be running out of gas at the worst. On the bright side, all the runs he gave up may not have happened as a missed strike three call turned into an Ozzie Albies single in the first, while a communication issue in the third led to a two-run Michael Harris single that put the Braves on top 3-0.

If this were the Spencer Strider of old, three runs would seem like a 10-run deficit, but given his overall struggles this season, you had to like the Cubs' chances of at the very least battling back. Ian Happ took it upon himself to put the Cubs on the board in the fourth as he took Strider deep to make this a 3-1 game as his hot hitting continues. With Craig Counsell forced to go to his pen earlier than he would've liked, it was up to Taylor Rogers to keep things close.

Since coming over from the Pirates at the deadline, Rogers, for the most part, has been a reliable option, but Monday saw him have his worst outing as a Cub, and it couldn't have come at a worse time. What makes his struggles worse is that all the damage came with two outs, as the two-out single from Drake Baldwin helped extend the inning and set things up for the Braves and the offense.

Albies followed suit with a double to put a pair of runners in scoring position, only to have Harris and Nacho Alvarez come through with two more doubles to bring home three runs as the Braves opened up a massive 6-1 lead. Down, but not out, the Cubs continued to battle back as Matt Shaw connected for an RBI double in the fifth to make this a 6-2 game, but it was in the sixth when things began to change.

Several key plays led to the Cubs coming back, and look no further than the sixth for one of those plays as Pete Crow-Armstrong picked the perfect time to drop down a two-out two-strike bunt as he beat the throw to first to give the Cubs a pair of baserunners. One batter later, it was the scorching hot Dansby Swanson coming through against Hunter Stratton as his RBI double closed the book on Strider and pulled the Cubs within 6-4. Strider would finish the day with three runs allowed in five innings, walking three and striking out one.

While PCA's bunt may have been the play that changed the outcome, it was the Cubs' bullpen, in particular, Aaron Civale, that saved the day for this team. Picked up off the waiver market on Sunday, Civale was thrown into a high-stress situation and gave the Cubs an impressive outing as he went on to throw three scoreless innings, walking none and striking out four in his first appearance with the Cubs. Crow-Armstrong bailed out Civale on what looked be an RBI double in the making, but that was just the kind of day it was.

As bad as the Braves have been this season, they started to show signs of life in August, and a big reason for that was their bullpen, which emerged as one of the best in baseball. With former Cub Pierce Johnson on to pitch the eighth, Ian Happ got things started in the right direction as his leadoff single brought the tying run to the plate.

Two batters later, and this game was indeed tied as Kelly took Johnson deep over the left field fence to send Wrigley Field into a frenzy as this was suddenly a 6-6 game. With Civale doing his job in relief, Counsell called on his best reliever in Brad Keller, and although he pitched himself into trouble, he also got out of trouble with no runs allowed, as this game was ticketed for extras.

After the Braves went down without a run off Andrew Kittredge, the pressure was back on the Braves pen to keep things tied as the middle of the Cubs order was set to bat. Although it didn't come easy with Jon Brebbia retiring the first two hitters in the 10th, it was Kelly coming through for the second time to play hero as he delivered the game-winning single to left to hand the Cubs a massive walk-off win.

The win marked the Cubs' largest come-from-behind victory of the season, was their first win on a Monday at home since Memorial Day, and helped the Cubs pick up a game in the NL Central race. The Cubs will look to make it two straight on Tuesday as Shota Imanaga takes the ball for the Northsiders.