Game Recap: Happ sends Wrigley into a frenzy with walk-off against Dodgers

Photo courtesy: Cubs Twitter

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - 4 hours ago

CHICAGO - If you have watched baseball long enough, you would know that no lead is safe when the wind blows out at Wrigley Field. Both the Chicago Cubs (15-10) and Los Angeles Dodgers (16-8) found that out firsthand on Tuesday, as this was another instant classic.

After opening a 7-4 lead in the fifth, things were looking up for the Cubs as they were primed to use their best guys in relief to close things out. Then came the seventh inning where a costly error from Gage Workman opened the floodgates and led to five runs. It was Workman's second error of the night, as you could make the case that his errors directly led to eight of the Dodgers' 10 runs. That is proof that to beat the Dodgers, you need to play as perfectly as possible as one mistake could cost you the game.

Don't tell this team that, as there is something special brewing on the Northside. Not only did Kyle Tucker pull the Cubs within one after a two-run shot in the eighth, but the Miguel Amaya blast off Tanner Scott in the ninth brought things back to even and sent the game into extras. Things only got better from there as Porter Hodge delivered by far his best outing of the season, which was anchored by the game-winning Ian Happ single to give the Cubs an 11-10 walk-off victory.

As good as Shota Imanaga has been, and he was good again in this one, the long ball will also be an issue for him, and when the wind is blowing out, there are some concerns about how effective he can be. Yes, the five runs allowed in 5 2/3 aren't a good look, but only two were earned as he also struck out six in his start. Had it not been for a leadoff error by Workman to begin the game, Imanga would have gotten out of the first without any damage, but the Tommy Edman blast made that error hurt as the Cubs found themselves in an instant 3-0 hole.

It was a lead that didn't last long as a leadoff double from Happ was followed by softly-hit Tucker, and just like that, the Cubs had runners on the corners with no outs. Tucker would steal second a few pitches later which was huge as Seiya Suzuki kept the line moving with an RBI double to make this a 3-2 game. Following a Michael Busch grounder for the first out, Dansby Swanson came through with his second RBI triple on this homestand, and suddenly, this was a 3-3 game.

Swanson came in to score on a Pete Crow-Armstrong double a few pitches later before the Miguel Amaya single closed out the five-run first with the Cubs in front 5-3. Los Angeles continued to keep the pressure on Imanaga in the second, with Angel Pages taking Imanaga deep to pull Los Angeles within 5-4, but that was it for their offense for several innings as Imanaga started to make the necessary adjustments.

The same can be said for Dustin May, who got off to a horrendous start by allowing more hits through two innings than he had allowed all season but still managed to keep his team in the game. May was on the verge of closing out his outing with four consecutive scoreless frames only to have Crow-Armstrong launch a two-run homer to right to extend the Cubs lead to 7-4. May would finish the inning, which was his final inning, as he was charged with seven earned runs in five innings.

Pitching with his biggest lead of the night, Imanaga returned to begin the sixth despite his pitch count nearing 100. Imanaga did his best to get through the teeth of the Dodgers lineup but after the Will Smith homer made this a 7-5 game, you started to see the motions turning in Craig Counsell's head as it was time to make the call to the pen.

Brad Keller was the first to enter the game, and after getting out of the sixth without damage, Keller ran into some serious seventh-inning trouble. This time, it was the bottom of the order getting things started as Pages led off the seventh with a single. That was followed by a pair of walks to Shohei Otani and Mookie Betts as the Dodgers loaded the bases with no outs.

Willing to trade a run for a double play, Keller got the ground ball he needed with Teoscar Hernandez at the plate, only to have Workman boot another grounder, which led to a run scoring and the bases remaining loaded. That was the break the Dodgers needed as they scored four more times in the seventh with Freddie Freeman giving them their first lead since the first with an RBI double. Los Angeles also had an Edman sacrifice fly and a Smith double as the Dodgers opened up a 10-7 lead.

Now in front, it was Dave Roberts to turn to play chess with the Cubs as he was aiming to put his best options to work late. Alex Vesia is one of those options, and with Happ picking up a one-out single in the eighth, the heart of the order was coming to bat. That included Mr. King Tuck himself as Tucker unloaded on the Vesia offering and roped it over the right field fence to pull the Cubs within 10-9. That signaled the call for Kirby Yates, who managed to get through the inning without further damage.

With Gavin Hollowell working a scoreless eighth in his season debut, the right-hander came back to work in the ninth and, despite allowing some loud contact, worked a 1,2,3 inning to bring the Cubs to bat for the final time. If the Cubs wanted to win this game, they were going to have to do so with the bottom of their order coming to hit and Tanner Scott on to close things out.

This was one of those where Scott didn't have his best stuff as Crow-Armstrong narrowly missed a game-tying homer. Down to their final out, it would be Amaya coming through in a big way as he connected for arguably his biggest homer as a Chicago Cub to drop one into the basket and tied things up 10-10. It was the kind of moment the fans were waiting for, as this had the feel of a postseason game and extra innings needed to decide a winner.

Knowing how crucial not only one run would be but multiple runs given the weather conditions, Hodge had other plans as he came out and shoved in the top half of the 10th to retire the Dodgers in order. Justin Turner did bail him out with a great play to start the inning, but Hodge deserves a ton of credit, as his effort got this game to the bottom of the 10th with things still tied.

It only took one pitch for Happ to play hero as he took the Noah Davis offering and ripped it into right field as Vidal Brujan came in to score the game-winning run in the Cubs' walk-off 11-10 win. Happ has been on quite a tear as he picked up four of the team's 17 hits and is now hitting .271 for the season. Tucker and PCA added three hits, with Suzuki, Hoerner, and Amaya responsible for the other multi-hit games.