The Shot Heard Round the World: Christopher Morel’s Walk-Off
Courtesy of USA Today
The Chicago Cubs needed a win. Following a 2 game losing streak, and a tough loss on August 15 to the Chicago White Sox, the Cubs needed the W in this Crosstown series. This is especially true when they were one game back in the Wild Card Standings to the Miami Marlins and the Cincinnati Reds had won their previous game to the Cleveland Guardians. This was the perfect opportunity for the Cubs to get their footing back and gain some ground on the Milwaukee Brewers, who are playing the Los Angeles Dodgers.
But come the eighth inning, things were not looking too good for the Chicago Cubs. The Sox had the bases loaded with nobody out already with a 3-run lead. Luis Robert Jr. and the heart of their order are coming up. Michael Fulmer comes into pitch, and while he has been really strong as of late, his beginning of the season was off to such a rocky start that those moments leave a bad taste. However, Fulmer rises to the challenge. He strikes out the side, the Sox leave the bases loaded nobody out.
Bottom of the eighth, the Cubs need a rally. Nick Madrigal comes in for the pinch hit, with the hope of getting a hit or just getting on base. Madrigal is a ground-ball, on-base player with an on-base percentage at .330. But Madrigal does so much more than that, hitting a barely-there homerun into the basket, to break the Cubs scoreless game, and get their deficit down to two. Yan Gomes comes in as another pinch hitter, gets out. Nico Hoerner draws the walk, but Ian Happ grounds out into a double play.
Drew Smyly comes out for the ninth, which given his track record is terrifying, as he has lost complete command of his pitches. Surprisingly though, he pitched a scoreless ninth, with the heart of the Cubs order due up for Gregory Santos, who pitched for the Sox just last night.
Cody Bellinger leads things off, second pitch, hits one deep off the wall for a double, great way to start things off. Dansby Swanson then draws the walk, two on, nobody out for Christopher Morel, who faced Santos the night before, but struck out. The first two pitches he swings hard, starting off the count 0-2. Next pitch a ball far outside. 1-2. Next pitch is right through the heart of the zone, and he smokes it out to right field and it’s gone. A walk-off 3-run homer for Christopher Morel in the Crosstown Series. He rips his jersey off as he flies around the bases and it is the most electric that Wrigley Field has felt in a long time. Morel needed this, as he looked a bit lost at the plate, but it seems this swing was well worth the wait.
The walk-off was just one of the many insanely absurd ways that the 2023 Chicago Cubs have won games, the sign of a truly exciting and fun team. While there still is a lot of baseball left to play, this swing will be a point to remember for the season, where many underestimated just what the 2023 Cubs were able to do. This was a much needed victory for the Chicago Cubs and will carry them into their off-day and hopefully into this next stretch of easy teams with the Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, and Pittsburgh Pirates all coming to face the red hot Chicago Cubs.
