The 2018 Major League Baseball weekend began on Friday, and a trio of teams earned dramatic walk-off wins to kickstart the weekend. The Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, and Kansas City Royals all won in their final at-bat on Friday. An exciting weekend for the players and fans will continue throughout Saturday and Sunday.
The Chicago Cubs got a much-needed win over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday thanks to another late-inning walk-off home run from rookie David Bote. Bote, “Boat” blasted his second walk-off home run in a span of two weeks with a solo home run in the 10th inning on Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Bote beat the Washington Nationals on August 12th with a pinch-hit grand slam home run off of Ryan Madson.
Bote’s homer gave the Cubs a third straight victory, and the Cubs maintained their three-game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central Division. Newly acquired Daniel Murphy gave the Cubs a brief 2-1 lead in the 8th inning with a solo home run that went deep into the right-field bleachers. The Cincinnati Reds evened the game at two when Eugenio Suarez belted a solo home run off of Pedro Strop to lead off the ninth inning.
The score remained tied at two before Bote stepped to the plate with one out in the 10th inning. After falling behind 0-2, Bote belted a hanging curveball off of Reds closer Raisel Iglesias onto Waveland Avenue for the victory.
Fellow NL Central Division team, the Milwaukee Brewers also won in dramatic fashion on Friday night. The Brewers defeated the Pirates 7-6 in the 15th inning of a game that lasted over 5 ½ hours on Friday night. The win snapped the Brewers five-game losing skid against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Brewers were trailing by two runs, and down to their final out before mounting a surprising and dramatic comeback. Erik Kratz, “Kratzy” delivered bases loaded two-out single to even the game at 6 before Orlando Arcia stepped to the plate. Arcia, “El Nino” delivered the game-winning single off of Pirates reliever Clay Holmes to cap the rally and give the Brewers a much-needed win. The Brewers trail the St. Louis Cardinals by .5 game for the top Wild Card spot in the National League.
Meanwhile, in the American League, the Kansas City Royals were able to stun the first place Cleveland Indians at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals made history on Friday night, with a pair of rookies hitting back-to-back home runs in the 9th inning or later to win a game for the first time in MLB history.
The Cleveland Indians held a 4-3 lead heading into the night inning and had closer Cody Allen on the mound before the rally began. Ryan O’Hearn, “Brohearn” hit the first pitch he saw from Allen into the left-field bullpen to tie the game. Fellow rookie, Hunter Dozier, “Doz” hit the game-winning home run three pitches later on a blast to right center. The Indians failed to 73-55 after the loss, but hold a commanding lead in the American League Central.
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