Rafael Ortega Just Hit a Walk-Off Homer for the Chicago Cubs!

Should a late-August win for a fourth-place Cubs team against a fourth-place Rockies team make me feel this good? Nope. But I don’t really care! That was awesome and we deserve it. And it was especially fun considering how it all started.

Although Kyle Hendricks was supposed to be our stopper, he gave up 3 first inning runs, making a 14th straight loss for the Cubs at home begin to feel all too likely.

But Hendricks locked things down for another six innings after that, Ian Happ got on base four times (including two doubles), Patrick Wisdom had a big RBI hit, Michael Hermosillo rocked a game-tying RBI double in the 8th, and then, after Jason Heyward led off the ninth with a roller up the middle, Rafael Ortega called game.

WALK. OFF. HOME. RUN.

Statcast had it at just 99 MPH off the bat and 376 feet, but it just felt like a no-doubter as soon as he swung. That was Ortega’s first hit of the night and his first homer since his three-homer game on August 1st. What a win.

written by

Michael Cerami began covering the Chicago Cubs for Bleacher Nation as a part-time contributor in 2015. One year later, he joined Bleacher Nation full-time, covering the Chicago Cubs and Major League Baseball. Today, Michael runs Bleacher Nation, contributing as a writer (Cubs, MLB) and an editor for all sections of the site, including the Chicago Bears, Bulls, and Blackhawks, as well as MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL. In 2019, Michael was the co-host of NBC Sports Chicago's Cubs Post-Game Show Outside the Ivy. You can find him on Twitter/X @Michael_Cerami

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