Late roster add strikes again, Cubs win on Conforto homer
Michael Conforto was mostly an afterthought when he signed with the Cubs on Feb. 26, certainly not a lock to make the team.
He was a low-demand free agent after hitting .199 for the Dodgers last year and seeing no postseason action.
Conforto hasn’t play very often so far this season, but he extended the Cubs’ home win streak to 12 in a row by hitting a pinch-hit, opposite-field, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to beat Cincinnati 5-4 on Monday night at Wrigley Field.
“The flags were friendly, so I felt like I got it,” Conforto said. “That's a swing I've been looking for for a couple years. Something I kind of came up doing, gap-to-gap power. That one felt like a click, that one felt really good.”
This is the second time Conforto saved a game during the home win streak. His RBI double in the bottom of the ninth tied the score against the Mets on April 19, and the Cubs won in extra innings.
“What Michael did, it's so hard,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “He didn't have an at-bat this weekend, so there's no at-bats in four days. There's nobody on base, but he's got the ability to do that. He got a pitch up and put a great swing on it.”
By now, it's easy to forget Conforto, 33, has been an excellent hitter in the major leagues. He was the No. 10 overall draft pick out of Oregon State in 2014, and was in the majors a year later, playing against the Cubs in the '15 National League Championship Series.
He was an All-Star in 2017, hit 33 homers in '19, but was pretty certain this was the first walk-off home run of his life.
“Man, I can't remember any walk-off homers,” he said. “I think I have one walk-off hit, a walk-off sac fly. But the first walk-off homer here at Wrigley, that's pretty cool.”
The Cubs trailed 4-3 heading into the bottom of the ninth. Pete Crow-Armstrong brought the crowd to life with a triple off the center field wall, which was nearly caught by Dane Myers. One out later, Nico Hoerner's sacrifice fly tied the score. Then Counsell sent Conforto out to pinch-hit for Matt Shaw with two outs and nobody on.
Back in the spring, it seemed no one was particularly impressed with the Cubs adding Conforto to the roster. But having another veteran, plus an extra left-handed bat, has paid off already.
“Michael's had a really good career, been a really good player in this league,” Counsell said. “He had a tough year last year. He'll tell you that too. But there's a lot of good baseball in Michael. We were fortunate that he chose us.
“To his credit, he's had to accept that he's probably not going to get as much playing time. But he's been ready and he's been a great part of the team.”
The Cubs moved Monday's start time from 6:40 to 6:10 p.m. due to the threat of rainy weather. But then the game didn't start until 7:50.
Knowing rain clouds were closing in, the Cubs put the tarp over the infield. Rain finally arrived at 6:24, with the first visible flash of lightning about 12 minutes later. There was some harder rain, then a large double rainbow loomed over right field and finally a dry start.
With warm temperatures and a light wind blowing out, Cubs starter Edward Cabrera did well to finish 6 innings on the mound. He gave up 9 hits, including home runs by J.J. Bleday and Ke'Bryan Hayes, but struck out eight and qualified for a quality start with 3 runs allowed.
After falling behind 3-0, the Cubs tied it on Seiya Suzuki's 455-foot blast to left-center field in the fourth inning. His sixth homer of the season came after a pair of walks.
Cincinnati scored the go-ahead run in the eighth when Nathaniel Lowe drew a walk from Ben Brown, pinch-runner Blake Dunn stole second and scored on a Spencer Steer single.