Could wild win over Giants be a season-defining victory for Cubs?
Sometime during their postgame delirium, something dawned on the Chicago Cubs: They hadn't won a game quite like Wednesday night's 12-11 victory over the San Francisco Giants at Wrigley Field.
There had been nice wins and tough losses, to be sure, but Wednesday's festivities offered something a little bit different.
The Cubs took a 6-2 lead in the third inning with Yu Darvish on the mound, but he allowed 4 home runs, and before you knew it, the Cubs found themselves down 9-7 in the sixth.
They battled back with 3 in the bottom of the inning and down 11-10 in the eighth, they got a 2-run homer from Kris Bryant to go ahead for the final time.
There was even some talk that this could be a “season-defining” win. The next day's starting pitchers have a lot to do with momentum, though.
But Bryant had one word for it.
“Fun,” he said after hitting his 26th homer of the season, against Reyes Moronta. “I like scoring a lot of runs. I was just talking to (teammate Jason Heyward). I don't know if we had a game like that this year, 12-11, back and forth.
“We were high-fiving there and Riz (teammate Anthony Rizzo) told me this is a season-defining win. I can't disagree with him. It's one of those game where you don't feel like you're going to win just because you take the lead and you're giving it back. We came out on top, and definitely some good momentum.”
With their fourth straight victory, the Cubs (68-58) moved back into first place in the National League Central, one-half game ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals (67-58), who lost to the Milwaukee Brewers.
What about the season-defining tag, Mr. Rizzo?
“At home, we really haven't won a game like that all year,” he said. “They scored 9 runs in the fifth through the seventh innings. Teams don't really win when that happens. It's just a good, hard-fought, never-quit win.”
Darvish gave up a 2-run homer to Evan Longoria in the first before the Cubs scored twice in each of the first three innings.
Hot-hitting Nicholas Castellanos homered for the third straight game in the first. He wound up 4-for-5. Kyle Schwarber took over the team lead with his 29th homer in the third, a 2-run shot off Giants starter Dereck Rodriguez.
Darvish didn't walk a batter for the fifth straight start even though he allowed a career-high 4 homers. He committed a one-out error in the sixth, as he failed to catch Rizzo's throw on a grounder to first, opening the way for a 5-run inning.
“Four homers, too much,” said Darvish, who added that he did not lose his concentration after the error. “But we won, so I'll take it.”
Cubs relievers Derek Holland and Tyler Chatwood had their problems, but after the Cubs went ahead. Craig Kimbrel nailed down his 11th save. Manager Joe Maddon acknowledged the importance of the win, but hesitated on whether it was season defining.
“We haven't scored a lot of runs to win a game when we've given up a lot of runs, and that's got to happen on occasion,” he said. “We'll find out. I've been involved in moments, those seminal moments, and all of a sudden things switch.”