The Cubs had been on a second-half roll. At the end of August rolling into the beginning of September, they rode a six-game winning streak into a 4.5 game lead in the NL Central.
So fans weren’t too worried when the Cubs lost the final game of a seven-game homestand to the Braves after winning those first six.
The first game of a trip to Pittsburgh, though, did not go well. Jake Arrieta, no longer his 2015-16 self, started this game and allowed four hits and three runs, including two homers, in the
first three innings before departing the game.
Justin Grimm finished out the third and threw a scoreless fourth before Rob Zastryzny allowed two runs in three innings of relief.
The Cubs hadn’t been able to do anything against Chad Kuhl, who threw seven shutout innings, allowing just four hits.
Still, it was only 5-0 heading to the eighth and the Cubs had overcome deficits like that before.
Not on this day. Dillon Maples entered to throw the eighth, just his second MLB game. And it was… bad. Maples faced six batters, and in order, they did this: Double, strikeout, double, walk, walk, single. Three runs had scored, making it 8-0, when Joe Maddon summoned outfielder Leonys Martin from the bench to finish off the inning.
He didn’t do any better than Maples. First three batters: Two-run single, RBI ground out, two-run homer.
Here’s the home run, hit by David Freese [VIDEO].
As you can see on the video clip, that pitch was clocked at 91 miles per hour. Maybe the Cubs should have tried Martin as a pitcher.
Martin played just 15 games for the Cubs after they acquired him for cash considerations on Aug. 31, 2017. In fact, this was his very first game in a Cubs uniform.
Later that month, he made a spectacular catch of a fly ball in St. Louis that won a game against the Cardinals in 11 innings. The catch Mike Tauchman made in St. Louis six years later has overshadowed Martin’s grab, but this one was just as good [VIDEO].
Martin left the Cubs as a free agent after 2017 and later played for Detroit and Cleveland. After that he spent four years in NPB with the Chiba Lotte Marines and two years in the Mexican League. He’s been active playing winter ball in Mexico this offseason at age 37.
This series will take Christmas Day off and resume on Friday.
