Cardiac Cubs manage to win in 10th inning despite blowing lead in ninth

No deep dive or detailed analysis is needed to describe the current state of the Cubs: It's now or never.

They've got to bring the energy, turn up the heat, glove up — any old cliché works as they began a stretch of 18 straight games against teams with losing records.

Considering how the season has gone, it was in character for the Cubs to almost choke this one away. Sloppy defense resulted in an unearned run in the fifth, Hector Neris blew a 3-run lead in the ninth, but the they pulled out a 6-5 win over Toronto when Seiya Suzuki delivered a walk-off single in the 10th inning Friday at Wrigley Field.

“It's a win, that's the big thing,” manager Craig Counsell said. “It would be great to pick out every win and make them beautiful, but a win's a win.”

Well, true. By not losing, the Cubs improved to 60-63 on the season. But anyone who knows Cubs history understands when the team gets uptight, when Neris walks off the mound to a loud chorus of boos, things typically don't end well on the North Side.

Counsell even got a little testy when asked about Friday's misadventures. To be fair, Neris had posted a 1.98 ERA in the second half of the season and had converted seven consecutive saves going back to June 17. The Cubs’ entire bullpen has been very good lately.

“Hector had a rough day today,” Counsell said. “Other than that, we played a good baseball game. If we're going to get on Dansby (Swanson) for not turning the (double-play) ball, let's get on the other plays he's made. Ask me every night about him.”

Kyle Hendricks is supposed to be the rock of the clubhouse, as the only player left from the World Series team. He pitched well Friday and was in line to get the victory, but he made two poor throws to second base on easy hoppers to the mound, allowing Toronto to tie the score 2-2 in the fifth. The first throw dropped in front of Nico Hoerner and the second was to the right of Swanson.

“I felt terrible,” Hendricks said. “Nico, that was a straight changeup right into the base, terrible. Then Dansby. I just kind of floated it there to him with nothing on it. It was kind of tough timing, so those were both my fault.”

Every Cubs player knows the drill. They’ve got to play like their season is at stake — because it is — but trying too hard to turn things around usually creates poor results.

“You've got to play loose, got to have fun,” Hendricks said. “Keeping that short mindset of just one day at a time, one pitch at a time, that's all we can do right now and the rest will take care of itself.”

The hitters stayed locked in, hitting four home runs. That's something the Cubs haven't done at Wrigley since the second home game of the season on April 2. Cody Bellinger hit a 2-run shot to open the scoring, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Miguel Amaya went back-to-back in the fifth, then Ian Happ belted a long home run to left while guest conductor Stephen Colbert was on the Apple TV microphone in the seventh inning. “Goodbye Mr. Spalding,” is how Colbert described it.

Happ credit the bench players for keeping energy up in the dugout, which can help when the metaphorical storm clouds circle above.

“It's so interesting, it's such an individual game within the team sport,” Happ said. “Everybody has their own way of going about getting themselves ready to play and the way they actually carry themselves on the field. I think everybody in this room doing that to the best of their ability.”

With a 5-2 lead, Neris gave up three singles and balked in a run before George Springer tied it with a triple off the wall. To Neris' credit, he stranded Springer at third base.

After Tyson Miller shut own the Blue Jays in the 10th, Suzuki collected his first American walk-off hit. The typically stoic Suzuki tossed his batting helmet in the air and hugged first-base coach Mike Napoli before celebrating with teammates.

“It makes me happy,” Suzuki said through his translator. “I'm usually the one that goes out there and jumps on my teammates, so it felt good to be on the other side.”

Yes, all's well that ends well. Just be sure to do it again on Saturday. No pressure.