What a wild freaking night.
Setting aside news of the Craig Kimbrel signing, as we must, because ACTUAL BASEBALL GAME, the Cubs and Rockies did a whole lot of nothing for almost five innings … and then the game went bonkers. The Cubs had a three run lead and blew it. Then they had a five run lead, and more or less blew it. Then they had a two run lead in the 9th, and very nearly blew it.
It’s not like we wanted immediate proof of the need for Kimbrel, guys.
Meanwhile, David Bote had himself A NIGHT. Not only did he notch four hits, including a double and a homer, but he drove in SEVEN RUNS. All those leads the Cubs bullpen kept blowing/almost blowing? Bote was the dude who kept getting them back.
Yu Darvish was much better than his line score suggests, as he was working some nasty stuff, one of the walks that ended his night was kinda bogus because Willson Contreras dropped a pitch, and two of the runs charged to Darvish scored after he left the game. Moreover, his night was shortened by a 13-pitch Daniel Murphy at bat (hate that guy). It was a fine outing.
In the end, it’s a win. A scary and ugly win, but a win.