Chicago Cubs Rally For Incredible and Historic Win Over Division Rivals on Thursday
The Chicago Cubs rallied to beat the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night, 5-4, at Wrigley Field. The win moved the Cubs to 53-58 while the loss dropped the Cardinals to 56-53. Every loss is detrimental for St. Louis, who is trying to stay in the National League wild card race.
The Cubs rallied to get this win, scoring three runs in a historic ninth inning that saw something happen that has never happened in the last 35 years of baseball history.
Per @OptaSTATS on social media:
Since pitches were first tracked in 1988, the are the only MLB team to have 3 separate 2-strike RBI extra-base hits in the bottom of the 9th in a victory.
They all came off of Ryan Helsley, who hadn't allowed a 2-strike extra-base hit all season before today.
That ninth inning featured a solo home run from Cody Bellinger, a double from Dansby Swanson and a walk-off double from Mike Tauchmann.
As the post indicates, doing this off Helsley also represents an incredible feat. Even after giving up the three runs in the ninth, he has a sterling ERA of 2.70.
The Cubs and Cardinals will play again on Friday in a famed Wrigley Field afternoon game. First pitch will come in at 2:20 p.m. ET as Erick Fedde pitches for St. Louis. It will be his first start with the Cardinals after being traded over from the Chicago White Sox at the trade deadline.
He's 7-4 with a 3.11 ERA. Javier Assad gets the ball for the Cubs. He's 5-3 with a 3.23 ERA.
Follow Fastball on FanNation on social media
Continue to follow our FanNation on SI coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following us on Twitter @FastballFN.