Baez’s grand slam in the 15th buries the Reds
Photo by Steve Mitchell / USATODAY

Baez’s grand slam in the 15th buries the Reds


by - Correspondent -

The day after Kris Bryant’s history making night, Javier Baez has a night to remember of his own as he crushed a grand slam in the 15th inning to secure a Cubs win of 7-2. The 15th-inning grand slam is the latest in Cubs history and helped give Chicago its 50th win on the season.

Zobrist started the game off with a home run giving the Cubs the advantage early with a lead of 1-0. Zobrist followed that up with a double in the 3rd inning, but the Cubs were unable to take advantage of the hit. The game was a battle of the pitchers. Matt Szczur hit a double over the third baseman in the fifth inning and Lester earned an RBI single to score Szczur to put the Cubs up 2-0.

Going into the sixth inning Lester had still only given up one hit while Reds pitcher John Lamb had given up six. Raisel Iglesias took over on the pitcher’s mound for the Reds at the beginning of the 7th and struck out Szczur, David Ross, and Lester to take the ball game to the bottom of the 7th.

The Reds came alive in the 8th inning as Billy Hamilton hit a home run to put the score at 2-1, with the Cubs barely hanging on to the lead. The Cubs looked to Hector Rondon to get the last four outs as Rizzo makes another remarkable tarp catch to get the Cubs out of the jam. Rondon hit Brandon Phillips, and Jay Bruce hit a single with only one out as the Cubs slowly struggled to hang on. Rondon struck out Adam Duvall to get out number two and then Eugenio Suarez singled to left center scoring Phillips to tie the game at two. Hamilton popped out to send the game to the 10th. It was Rondon’s 3rd blown save in 16 chances.

Justin Grimm went into the 10th and struck out Ramon Cabrera, De Jesus, and got Zack Cozart to fly out to send the game to the 11th. Carl Edwards Jr. pitched a good inning while throwing some fire at 97 mph to send the game to the 12th. It was the game of dueling bullpens as Trevor Cahill sent the game to the 13th.

The bottom of the 13th had De Jesus and Cozart hitting back to back one out singles. Peralta was able to get out of the jam thanks to an amazing leaping line drive catch by Zobrist and gets the runner at second as well. It marked the first time the Cubs made it to the 14th inning this year. Joe Maddon then swapped pitcher Spencer Patton with Travis Wood out in left field. Wood got Votto out and then immediately went back to left field as Patton became pitcher again. The flip flop worked as Patton got the last out sending it to the 15th.

The 15th inning saw the Cubs get their first hit since the 6th inning. Zobrist walked to begin the inning putting runners on first and third. Kris Bryant's RBI single gave the Cubs a 3-2 lead. Baez added some insurance runs as he hit a grand slam making it 7-2. The Reds were unable to retaliate in the bottom of the 15th as the Cubs claimed the win.

Lester pitched 7.2 innings while allowing only 3 hits. He struck out four Reds players and now has an ERA of 2.03. The Cubs scored quickly in the game, but were unable to get much going after the 5th as Raisel struck out four Cubs on the night, while Lamb struck out seven.

The Cubs take on the Reds tomorrow afternoon on a quick turn around as they look to improve their division lead over the Cardinals. The game will pit Kyle Hendricks against Cody Reed.

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