Last month, I wrote about Chris Denorfia’s walk-off home run, a blast that still stands as the only one in MLB history to win a scoreless game in extra innings.
Before he did that, though, the versatile
Denorfia became another Cubs position player to take the mound.
It happened Aug. 19, 2015 at Wrigley Field against the Detroit Tigers.
This game began on a down note. The boxscore says it was only 68 degrees at game time, very cool for mid-August, and the previous night’s game had been delayed an hour by a thunderstorm that provoked a severe thunderstorm warning to be issued for the area around Wrigley Field. The Cubs lost that game 10-8 and with more than two hours’ delay, the game didn’t end until almost 1 a.m. After a nine-game winning streak, it was the Cubs’ second straight loss and no one was in a good mood.
Jon Lester started this game and got hit hard, allowing seven runs in fewer than three innings, including three home runs. One of those home runs was by Tigers pitcher Daniel Norris, who became not only the first AL pitcher to homer at Wrigley Field, but the first to homer off the new right-field video board.
The Cubs closed to within 7-3 in the bottom of the third on homers by Kris Bryant and Dexter Fowler, but Detroit kept pounding Cubs pitching and by the time James Russell had been hammered for five runs in less than two innings, the Tigers led 15-7 with two out in the ninth.
That’s when Joe Maddon brought in Denorfia to finish things off. As you will see, it was one of the games the Cubs were wearing throwback uniforms:
The Cubs got a consolation run in the bottom of the ninth and lost 15-8, their third loss in a row. Denorfia did get to bat as a pitcher in that ninth inning. Unlike David Ross, who had homered as a pitcher a month earlier, Denorfia struck out to end the game.
The Cubs followed that loss with a six-game winning streak, and, as you know, won 97 games and a Wild Card spot.
Denorfia, meanwhile, has now appeared twice in offseason series articles on this site, and is someone who should be remembered in Cubs lore.
