PITTSBURGH – The Cubs were tantalizingly close to coming back from what had previously looked like an insurmountable deficit when Christian Bethancourt stepped into the batter’s box in the ninth inning Wednesday.
He heard one especially loud fan yell from behind the plate: “You stink!”
Ironically, Bethancourt already had put together the best offensive night of any Cub.
“I was like, ‘You cannot stink this time,'” Bethancourt said after the Cubs’ 14-10 win Wednesday against the Pirates. “‘You’ve got to make him shut up.’ And that’s what I did.”
Bethancourt smoked a ground ball past diving shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa, driving in two runs to give the Cubs their first lead since the top of the second inning. And after pumping his fist toward the visiting dugout, Bethancourt shifted his sights to behind home plate and pointed toward the loud fan. What were you saying?
The Cub fought back from a seven-run deficit Wednesday to pull off the victory and complete a three-game sweep of the Pirates.
“That was freaking unbelievable, to say the least,” said starter Kyle Hendricks, who allowed six runs in 1 ⅔ innings Wednesday for his worst start of the season. “Just shows the character, the fight, the resiliency of our guys. Freaking incredible.
“Absolutely incredible to stay with that when I put us that far behind the eight ball to start.”
That stubborn belief that kept them fighting for an unlikely victory reflected the Cubs’ insistence on making a late-season push despite their playoff odds. Improbable isn’t impossible. And Cubs (68-66) have managed to keep the last National League wild-card spot, currently occupied by the Braves, in their sights.
They were five games back of the Braves, pending the conclusion of Atlanta’s game against the Twins, with less than five weeks left in the season.
By sweeping the series in Pittsburgh, the Cubs answered the latest knock on them. Though they’d won their previous three series, they’d also gone up 2-0 against the Blue Jays and Marlins and failed to complete the sweep.
En route to taking all three games at Pittsburgh, they scored 41 runs, securing their fourth straight series victory.
They even hit well against Pirates ace Paul Skenes, scoring three runs against him in five innings.
The rookie phenom has only given up three-plus in three other starts this season – against the Cubs in his debut and facing the Dodgers twice. He’s never allowed more than four runs in a major-league game.
“We were fortunate to have seen him a couple times before that,” said Ian Happ, who led off the first inning with a double, his first of three hits Wednesday. “So, we’ve got a little more information than most just from our experience. But he’s got great stuff.”
Hendricks' second-inning implosion wiped out the Cubs’ early lead. But they scored 11 unanswered runs in late innings.
They benefited from contributions up and down the lineup, but Bethancourt’s seven RBI more than doubled his previous career high for a single game. He became the sixth Cubs catcher in the modern era (since 1901) to record seven-plus RBI in a game.
After the Cubs took the lead on Bethancourt’s two-run single, and tacked on insurance runs by batting around in a six-run ninth, rookie reliever Porter Hodge jogged back to the mound for a second inning of work.
If Jorge López had been available, it would have been an obvious spot for him. But he'd been dealing with a strained groin since Monday night. The Cubs are expected to decide whether or not to put him on the injured list based on his availability this weekend when they take on the Nationals.
So, the Cubs called on Hodge to carry a bigger load.
“Phenomenal,” Bethancourt said of Hodge’s two shutout innings.
On Hodge’s 36th pitch of the day, he struck out Billy McKinney on a back-foot slider, and the Cubs’ daring comeback was complete.
