CHICAGO – The Braves led 10-5 after seven innings Saturday against the Cubs, and still led by that score with two on and two out in the eighth inning. They were four outs from clinching a series win on a brutally cold, windy, rainy afternoon at Wrigley Field.
Then they let that entire lead and much more slip through their frozen fingertips in a nine-run eighth inning that gave the Cubs an unforgettable 14-10 win.
Here is the anatomy of a remarkable eighth inning that saw the Braves give up nine runs on three hits, five walks (three with bases loaded), two hit-by-pitches, one wild pitch and an error.
Before Saturday, the last time the Cubs scored nine or more runs in an inning on three or fewer hits was on May 19, 1954, against the Brooklyn Dodgers, when they got nine runs in an inning on three hits, four walks and three errors.
The inning that will live in infamy:
Reliever Luke Jackson starts eighth inning for Braves
-- Jason Heyward, hit by pitch
-- Kyle Schwarber, strikes out swinging
-- Tommy La Stella, single to left-center field, Heyward to second
Pitching changing, Jose Ramirez replaces Jackson
-- Efren Navarro strikes out swinging
-- Kris Bryant, hit by pitch, loads bases
-- Wilson Contreras, swinging-bunt single fielded by catcher Kurt Suzuki, Contreras beats throw, Heyward scores
-- Ben Zobrist walks, La Stella scores
-- Javier Baez doubles to left-center, Bryant scores, Contreras scores, Zobrist scores
-- Addison Russell, intentional walk
Pitching change, Sam Freeman replaces Ramirez
-- Heyward walks
-- Schwarber walks, Baez scores
-- La Stella walks, Russell scores
Pitching change, Peter Moylan replaces Freeman
-- With Navarro batting, wild pitch scores Heyward; throwing error by Suzuki on play, Schwarber scores
-- Navarro strikes out swinging
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