NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Cubs didn’t have a hit until the 8th inning tonight. And they finished the game with just three hits total.
BUT ONE OF THOSE HITS WAS A GO-AHEAD … GAME-WINNING … TWO-RUN HOME RUN for Christopher Morel off Mets closer Edwin Diaz with two outs in the ninth inning!
What an incredible turnaround for a game that was looking like it was going to be the third brutal Cubs loss in a row (and their first three-game losing streak of the season).
Like I said, the Cubs offense couldn’t do anything tonight against Luis Severino, but they scraped a run together in the 8th with a couple of broken-bat, dinky balls in play and a walk (plus a little help from the Mets, who made a bad decision trying to go for the inning-ending double-play).
Tie ballgame in the 8th! pic.twitter.com/sfGPR6Dj42
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 30, 2024
…That was a mistake and it set up Morel’s 9th inning heroics.
Of course, the Cubs wouldn’t have had any shot at winning this game if it wasn’t for Jameson Taillon throwing an absolute GEM. He didn’t miss many Mets bats tonight (just three whiffs total), but he just kept getting outs. Ultimately, he finished his 7.1 innings of one-run baseball at just 79 pitches. Mark Leiter Jr. came in to relieve him with a lefty up, and then Hector Neris closed things out in the 9th (complete with two walks, of course). I am still wholly unconvinced that he can keep closing games, but let’s not think about that right now.
Somehow, some way, the Cubs won that game. Awesome, awesome win. And just a hair over two hours!
