Ramos allowed a string of hits before issuing a bases-loaded walk to Ben Zobrist to knot the score.
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Matt Szczur scored the winning run on A.J. Ramos’ wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday, capping a three-run rally that gave the Cubs a 5-4 victory and a three-game sweep.
Prior to Sunday the Cubs had only one walkoff win this year.
In the meantime, Miami will wrap up the Wrigley Field series with a Wednesday day game as right-hander Tom Koehler (8-8, 4.18 ERA) goes against Cubs righty John Lackey (8-7, 3.69 ERA).
Shane Greene (2-2) got the win after pitching out of a seventh-inning jam, and Francisco Rodriguez finished for his 30th save.
The start will be his first since 2015.
The Chicago Cubs placed right-handed starter Jason Hammel on the Bereavement List and recalled right-handed relief pitcher Justin Grimm from Triple-A Iowa.
The Cubs tied the game in the sixth.
The Cubs were silent until the sixth when Willson Contreras singled up the middle to drive in Rizzo from second for a 1-1 tie.
The Cubs maintained their impressive nine-game lead in the NL Central division, while surging Colorado gained further ground in the NL West by beating the Los Angeles Dodgers, reducing the gap between those teams to five games. Eddie Rosario had three hits and three RBIs, and Max Kepler had two hits and drove in two runs.
Jeff Mathis hit a two-run homer for Miami.
The victory kept the Orioles in front of Toronto, which won 3-1 at Houston. Chicago has won seven of eight after slumping early last month. Oh, and two doubles. “I didn’t come here for a haircut, you know what I mean?” He allowed three runs on seven hits and struck out eight while taking a loss in three of his last four games.
“With Zobrist, he’s not going to swing (just) to swing”, catcher Miguel Montero said.
He entered in the fourth inning to replace injured starter Colin Rea and gave up no runs on one hit while striking out four and walking two. Wednesday’s victory was just as dramatic as Sunday’s 7-6 comeback against the Mariners in 12 innings whenthey overcame a 6-0 deficit to score the tying run in the ninth on a wild pitch and then the game victor on pitcher Jon Lester’s pinch squeeze bunt. But Rodney escaped more damage as he struck out Contreras while Heyward grounded to short to end the frame.
Over his entire 11-year career, Hammel has an ERA a whole run higher in the second half than the first part of the season.
And that’s when the fun really started. Scherzer (12-6) allowed 3 runs on 4 hits, giving up 2 home runs, and walked 1. Shortstop Rizzo barehanded a slow roller to get Conley with the bases loaded to end the second.
Dexter Fowler’s sacrifice fly made it 4-3, with the other two runners advancing as well.
All it took was a big play in the outfield and some 104 miles per hour heat from Aroldis Chapman to give Maddon and the Cubs another win. But it was clear from the outset he couldn’t find the strike zone. He walked one and struck out seven.
That brought up Contreras.
The Cubs scored three runs in the inning to sweep the three-game series.
It really was an awesome atmosphere at the ballpark during the eighth- and ninth-inning rallies.
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“This is definitely the best I’ve ever pitched, the most confident I’ve ever been, I think”, Hendricks said. Ichiro Suzuki became kind of an afterthought; two hits short of 3,000, he pinch-hit again, for the third straight day, and was again robbed by a fine defensive play, a catch of a sinking liner by Baez. Jon Lester will throw the series opener against Dillon Overton.
