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Sep 14, 2017

David Bote's August 17, 2018 pinch walk-off grand slam

In a regular-season home game against the Washington Nationals on August 17 2018, Cubs rookie third baseman David Bote pich-hit a walk-off grand slam to defeat the Nationals 4-3. The game was broadcast on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball in front of a nationwide audience, and sealed a series win for the Cubs.

Bote had made his debut with the Cubs earlier that year after seven years in the minors. He pinch hit in the number nine spot and hit his home run off releiver Ryan Madson to straightaway center field. Max Scherzer and Cole Hamels started the game for the Nationals and Cubs, respectively, throwing seven innings each and striking out a combined 20 batsmen.

The Cubs acquired Nationals reliever Brandon Kintzler at the trade deadline after former Dodger and closer Brandon Morrow went on the DL on July 18. Kintzler gave up two runs in the eight to widen the gap to 3-0.

Nationals reliever Ryan Madson hit two Cubs before Bote's at-bat, including 2018 All-Star catcher Willson Contreras (pictured)

Background

David Bote was called up to the major leagues for the first time on April 21, 2018. He was optioned to Iowa four more times before rejoining the big-league club for the remainder of the season on July 26. He hit .458/.563/.792 in 24 games during the month of July and was 6-for-23 in August.

15 Tiebreaker Game

Pirates third baseman Aramis Ramirez (pictured above right as a member of the Cubs in 2004) retired after the Wild Card game. Pittsburgh traded him to Chicago on July 23, 2003, and reacquired him from the Brewers on July 23, 2015.

Dexter Fowler (left) and Kyle Schwarber (right) accounted for all four runs in the Wild Card game. Fowler came to the Cubs in an offseason trade with Houston, while Schwarber was promoted to the Majors directly from Double-A Tennessee on July 16.

This was the third consecutive home appearance in the Wild Card game for Pittsburg and its third straight second-place finish behind St. Louis. At 98-64, the Pirates finished 10 games ahead of their 2014 record and one game ahead of the visiting Chicago Cubs (97-65).

Chicago was making its first playoff appearance since its 2008 division title. This was its first Wild Card berth since 1998 and first under the new Wild Card format introduced three years earlier. It finished 27 games ahead of its fourth-place 2014 record.

To balance it young core of hitters, the Cubs signed free agent and 2013 World Series champion starter Jon Lester and hired former Tampa Bay Rays skipper Joe Maddon. In the second half, the Cubs relied on stellar performances out of its top three starters--Lester, right-hander Kyle Hendricks and Jake Arrieta.

The Pirates returned much of the same roster

Game Summary

Starting pitchers Chacin and the Cubs' Jose Quintana each conceded 1 run to the opposing team in their first five innings pitched. The Brewers struck first in the third when Yelich drove in leadoff hitter Orlando Arcia on a two-out single. First baseman Anthony Rizzo homered in the fifth for the Cubs' first hit and the equalizer.

Quintana only faced one batter in the sixth: Yellich, who knocked his third single of the day off the left-hander; however, reliever Jesse Chavez cleaned up the inning with three straight outs. Chacin left in bottom half of the inning after inducing a double play.

Neither team recorded another hit until the eighth. The Brewers had runners at second and third when Cubs reliever Steve Cishek, an offseason signing, gave up an RBI single to Cain. Cubs manager Joe Maddon put in Eddie Rosario to strike out Yelich and played the matchup game again with Brandon Kintzler to face Ryan Braun. Braun singled to center to put the Brewers up 3-1.

Star reliever Josh Hader recorded four straight out for Milwaukee before shortshop and NL MVP candidate Javier Baez hit a two-out single to put the tying run at the plate for Rizzo. Rizzo flied out to left, sealing the win and the Central Title for the Brewers.

Yellich and Arcia combined for seven of the team's 12 hits, with Arcia logging first career four-hit game and scoring two of Milwaukee's runs. Five other Brewers each had a hit; however, no Brewers walked. The Cubs, meanwhile, struck out eight times and only had a man in scoring position twice - both with two outs.