As if Christian Bethancourt needed any extra motivation when he took the stage, one fan provided him with some extra motivation.
Leading by one run with two outs in the ninth, the Pirates intentionally walked Pete Crow-Armstrong to load the bases and bring the Cubs’ backup catcher to the plate.
“Oh my God, I was like, ‘This is my moment to shine,’” Bethancourt told Taylor McGregor after the Cubs’ epic 14-10 win over the Pirates. “After the first pitch, somebody behind me yelled, ‘You stink.’ I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m not going to stink in here.’”
“I thought, ‘You’ve got to shine here. You’ve got to put the ball in play and make things happen.’
My God, he kept his promises.
Bethancourt singled just past shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa for the tying run and the deciding run in the win. It capped an improbable comeback from a 10-3 deficit and put the cherry on top of Bethancourt’s 7-RBI day.
(VIDEO: Analysis of the Cubs’ 9th-inning comeback in Pittsburgh)
“By playing 27 outs,” Bethancourt said of the Cubs’ comeback. “We knew we played well. We hit, we played defense, we pitched. We know if we play 27 outs — even when we were down 10-3 at one point — we kept saying, ‘We’ve got to keep going. We’ve got to keep attacking.’”
“That’s what we did.”
(VIDEO: Relive the 11 races in the Cubs’ comeback)
And it gave the Cubs their most impressive win of the season, a much-needed victory. As the Cubs cling to their slim playoff hopes, they need every win they can get, and Wednesday’s comeback was huge, keeping them within striking distance of the National League wild-card race.
