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Pirates catcher Michael Perez’ throw to first deflected off the glove of Kevin Newman — darting over to cover the bag — allowing Báez to reach second. He later scored on an Ian Happ single as the Cubs won 5-3. Báez hit a sharp two-out grounder to Pittsburgh third baseman Erik Gonzalez, whose throw to first baseman Will Craig sailed up the first baseline. The throw was in plenty of time, so much that Báez said he thought of maneuvering out of the baseline. David Ross said the moment will stick with him and stand out among those from his own playing days.
The play helped the Cubs to a sweep of the Pirates, but the buzz postgame wasn't about the Cubs' four-game winning streak -- it was all about Baez. "You can call it swag or baseball IQ. He plays the game like a kid. I think that's why a lot of people fall in love with him." Baez was credited with a fielder's choice, while Perez was given an error for his throw. According to Statcast, it took Baez 15.54 seconds to reach first base, which is the longest time to first on a fielder's choice in at least the last three seasons. Perez attempted to throw the ball to second baseman Adam Frazier, who just now was moving over to cover first.
Báez' insane baserunning magic brings home a run
This isn’t the first time Báez has pulled off an unthinkable on the diamond, and it won’t be the last. Friday marked the Cubs' first game with a full capacity crowd at Wrigley Field since 2019, and the 35,112 in attendance erupted with a tremendous roar. And on Ponce de Leon's 14th offering, Rizzo didn't miss, smacking a game-tying home run to the right field bleachers to knot things at 5. Reporters aren't the only ones trying to be first on player signings. Here’s how the Cubs dugout celebrated that stunning showcase of hitting and athleticism from Suzuki.
Statcast defines a 'hard-hit ball' as one hit with an exit velocity of 95 mph or higher. He equated the day's overall atmosphere to when the Cubs played their first night game at Wrigley in 1988. Friday marked the Cubs' first game with a full capacity crowd at Wrigley Field since 2019. Rizzo said the 35,112 fans in attendance being into each pitch of his at-bat helped him relax and stay locked in.
Wrigley erupts as Rizzo homers on 14th pitch of AB
He mentioned Alex Cora's 18-pitch at-bat in 2004 when they were teammates on the Dodgers. Tied 1-1 with one out in the ninth, Suzuki smacked the ball out to center field, which took a huge bounce off of the wall and went past Jonathan Davis. By the time Davis caught up with the ball, Suzuki was just about to round third base on his way home.
Baseball-Reference Bullpen 100,000+ pages of baseball information, How to Contribute, ... MLB Scores Yesterday's MLB Games, Scores from any date in Major League history, MLB Probable Pitchers, Baseball-Reference Stream Finder, ... It's just a media site that happens to cover MLB, the NFL, the NBA, the NHL, the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago Bears, the Chicago Bulls, and the Chicago Blackhawks. In other words, having seen a big signing yesterday and a few minor signings, I wouldn’t necessarily expect the dam to break today or even this week.
The Cubs were down 5-1 in the middle of the fifth inning, but stormed back
XwOBA is formulated using exit velocity, launch angle and, on certain types of batted balls, Sprint Speed. Báez kept Craig close, offering Willson Contreras, who had just stolen second base, enough time to round the bases. The improvisation worked — the Cubs catcher slid in ahead of Craig’s throw to catcher Michael Perez.
Pederson homered earlier in the game and went 3 for 4 with three RBI. He got off to a brutal start to the season, but he's hitting .304 with five doubles, a triple, seven homers, 21 RBI 18 runs and a .548 slugging in his last 31 games. More than anything, though, look at the crowd in the highlight. It's something we'll continue seeing all across baseball as ballparks are slowly but consistently opening back up to full capacity across the league.
Fans missed being there so much they'll go even more crazy for the big moments, mixed with a little "don't know what you got, 'til it's gone" vibe. If the Pirates had tagged Baez or stepped on first at any point in the sequence, the run would not have counted -- even if the out came after Contreras had crossed the plate. Baez's return toward home was within the rules as long as he didn't go out of the baseline or reach the plate.
Closer Craig Kimbrel punctuated the win with a four-out appearance, which included only the second at-bat of his career. In the 10th inning, Báez broke a deadlock in St. Louis, launching a two-run homer off Cardinals closer Alex Reyes to power the Cubs to a 2-1 win over their rivals at Busch Stadium. Báez walked slowly out of the box, casually dropping his bat as he watched the ball soar out to center field. A Bolt is any run where the Sprint Speed (defined as "feet per second in a player's fastest one-second window") of the runner is at least 30 ft/sec. A range-based metric of skill that shows how many outs a player has saved over his peers.
With the bases loaded and no outs, Tommy Edman then chopped a Tepera pitch to second baseman Nico Hoerner, who quickly fired to catcher Willson Contreras for a forceout at home. Tepera then set down Paul Goldschmidt and struck out Nolan Arenado to stun the St. Louis crowd. The win, which helped the North Siders pull within two games of the first-place Cardinals in the National League Central, had its pivotal moment in the seventh. That is when Cubs setup man Ryan Tepera pulled off an escape act that had him pumping his fist, shouting and bounding off the mound.
Much of the play-by-play, game results, and transaction information both shown and used to create certain data sets was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. About Baseball Reference Batting Glossary, Pitching Glossary, Wins Above Replacement Explainer, WAR data archive, BR Data Coverage, Frequently Asked Questions about MLB and Baseball, ... "The bullpen's settling in and doing what they know how to do," Davies said. "It's comfortable as a pitcher to get your work done and then hand it off and know what comes next."
Chicago Cubs shortstop Javier Baez was at it again Thursday, creating havoc on the basepaths that led to two runs for his team -- the difference in a 5-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. All images are property the copyright holder and are displayed here for informational purposes only. Please note that players may not be in the uniform of the correct team in these images. "We trust him. We trust all the guys out of the bullpen. I think Tepera right now is feeling all his pitches."
It's the deepest in an at-bat a Cubs player has hit a home run since tracking pitch counts started in 1988, according to MLB.com's Sarah Langs. The Cubs' bullpen has been one of the best in baseball since the beginning of May. Two inherited runners were allowed in the fifth inning Friday, but the official line for the Cubs' relievers on Friday shows five scoreless innings. Contreras spotted them extra insurance with a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth, but it wasn't necessary. Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright -- in the midst of a vintage, eight-inning performance -- attempted a sacrifice bunt, which Tepera swiftly gloved.
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