It really did happen. It wasn’t a fever dream brought on by another late night, the disappointment of Game Three, and the frustration of much of Game Four.
The Chicago Cubs really did come back from a three-run, 9th inning deficit to beat the San Francisco Giants in the NLDS and move on to their second consecutive NLCS.
If for some insane and self-flagellating reason you gave up early and went to bed, you can watch the highlights from the 9th inning below. For everyone else, this is just an opportunity to watch it again. Because it’s a little slice of heaven. [adinserter block=”1″]
First, the incredible top of the 9th, picking up after Kris Bryant singled and Anthony Rizzo walked to lead off the inning:
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The Ben Zobrist double, the Willson Contreras single, and the Javy Baez single will naturally get the most attention, but how about Jason Heyward busting it so hard down the line that it forced a rushed throw at second base? Even if the throw had been on line, he would have been safe because that was the fastest Heyward has made it first base all season, according to Statcast.
The Cubs got plenty of love from the BABIP gods in that inning, but that was something of a balancing out for quite a few rockets right at Giants players earlier in the game and the night before. And, of course, as we were saying about the Giants for so long before: that’s why sometimes it’s just good to put the ball in play.
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Aroldis Chapman closed things out with ease in the bottom half of the 9th, and the celebration began:
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