- [Jason] That whole mindset of us is the game's not over until it's over.
We do always believe, and when we get to opportunities,
we're that dangerous in starting rallies.
That inning, I'm seeing it unfold.
I'm like, "I'm going to hit this inning."
I just know it's going to happen.
It's going to get to me, and I'm going to try and finish the game.
♪ [music] ♪
There's a lot of small things that are a part of our big innings.
We all fought our tails off to get right there in that spot
to even have a chance to win it.
- [Announcer] Underway here in the bottom of the ninth as the Cubs now find
themselves trailing for the first time tonight.
- [Kyle] The mindset is to get on base.
It's good enough take your A swing, but my goal is to get that rally
going because, you know, you got to get a guy on base to score two.
You got to be able to lock in on the strike zone.
And that's what I pride myself on, is my strike zone awareness.
Once I get 2-0, you know, there I'm taking.
So I'm little-leaguing him, you know, just doing the little league
fake bunt stuff.
Trying to play a mental game right there.
Just give him a different visual, less of a target to see.
♪ [music] ♪
It worked out.
Keep that line moving. Get the next guy up.
- Now the tying run will come up.
- [Albert] He was throwing 100, but I really had a good feeling
about that at bat.
With a guy that throws as hard as this guy did, anything could happen.
- Dropped by the catcher, and now Schwarber…
- He didn't realize where the ball was, and I was really thinking
about taking off, but, you know, you just got on base.
Don't want to make an out here.
- And now Schwarber will dive back to first, and the throw gets away
in right field, and Schwarber goes to second.
- Threw it into right field, and we were able to move up an extra 90.
- When the ball went by, I was looking straight ahead,
and I remember thinking to myself, I go, "Well, I saw this guy pretty well."
- A 1-1 to Albert.
Base hit center field.
Schwarber will advance one.
And they're on the corners.
- I love that grind in that inning.
You know, we got a chance to win this game right here.
- Gabe Kapler's heading out.
- [Ian] I don't think I'm special enough to warrant a pitching change.
- And he's making the call. He wants a lefty.
- It's like, "Why?"
You'd spent the entire pre-at-bat on the on-deck circle from one side and then
they flip you.
You have to go and get another helmet, but the approach doesn't change at all.
The approach there is just whatever I can do to get on base.
- You remember Adam Morgan as a starter who has pitched out of the bullpen,
though, the last two seasons.
- [Announcer 2] We talk about the crowd being a factor at Wrigley.
This is a great example of it.
- The crowd, more than anywhere else that I've played, is so impactful at Wrigley.
Every time that guy throws a pitch, there's a reaction.
♪ [music] ♪
- You can tell that the pitchers are struggling because of the noise here
at Wrigley Field.
Ball four. They're loaded.
- It's overwhelming down there.
I wouldn't want to be on the other side of those 40,000.
- Bases loaded for Zobrist.
- [Ben] I looked down at my ring, and it says, "We never quit."
That's the mantra that we've always had while I've been here whenever we're
down late in the game.
There's one out in the ninth, and Morgan's nasty.
And I got to two strikes.
The one thing you can't do in that situation is hit into a double play.
You can strike out, and that's still not as big of a deal.
If you hit the ball on the ground, you better get going.
Morgan has a really good changeup, and the changeup particularly is a ground
ball pitch for him.
So when he threw a fastball up, that was the one I thought I needed
to go for, so I went for it even though it was like up on the corner, away.
And I just overdid my swing to where I bounced it to him.
- A tapper.
- And, of course, as soon as I see it go on the ground, I had to get going.
- They'll get one.
And Alfaro I think, because of that earlier throw, has thought, "Well,
if I fire this into right, we're tied."
- If he makes a bad throw at first, which he already made one in the inning,
that game's over, so that gets in your head.
- All those little things, keeping that one out from happening,
that gives us one extra chance.
You want to believe the guy behind you is going to do it if you don't do it.
- So it's Heyward with the bases still loaded, but two outs.
- In my mind, it was like, "Here we go.
I'm going to face Adam Morgan."
I actually know him, and we both grew up in Georgia.
Played baseball against each other.
We trained at the same gym, and I faced him before.
I faced him, actually, when he was a starter.
I know he's got a really, really good slider.
That's just his pitch.
He's going to live and die by that, and I was able to run into one,
and I got a homer off it, my 100th homer, actually.
- [Announcer 3] And it's gone.
And it's the 100th career homer for Jason Heyward.
- At Wrigley, I kind of come to terms with that and get it out of my head right away
because he's not a starter.
As a starter, he was throwing 91, 92.
He's got a really good slider.
As a reliever, he's throwing 97.
Still has a really good slider.
So I was just trying to stay on his fastball.
You know, if he made his pitch with the slider, then I'm just going to have to tip
my cap to him.
Stepping in, I just think he's trying to get comfortable himself.
So I want to make him throw me strikes.
You know, first pitch, he almost throws it away.
Make him come to me, and if he doesn't, then we're going to score a run off
a walk at least.
He started me off with two sliders, and now I feel like you're going
to see 97.
- [Umpire] Strike.
- That's a great take.
I got to see a fastball in the zone, and that's what I was going to work
off of from that point.
It was another fastball.
It was a really good swing on it, and the more pitches I got to see,
the more I was able to get a better reaction.
- And now Morgan backs away again.
- And they just can't get together on a sign.
- Him and the catcher were like, "All right, man.
What do we got? What are we going to do?"
Ironically, they probably went out and discussed like, "Hey,
this dude did hit a homer off you with a slider."
That's why, in my head, I'm like, "Okay, look for 97."
♪ [music] ♪
Like, I know I hit that ball, and I know it was going to go far.
Like, Okay. Celebration time.
- Cubs win! Cubs win on a grand slam by Heyward!
- As soon as it was off the bat, it was like, "Oh, that was smoked."
- I peeked at the ball quick, and then I looked at J
to see if he pimped it.
I was like, "That's it."
I didn't even see the ball land.
- I hear the crowd just erupt.
I'm jumping up in the air just like everybody else.
- Next thing you know, it's pandemonium.
- The excitement, the joy.
It's just awesome to feel like we all got rewarded for hanging in there
in that spot.
♪ [music] ♪
- He decided to go with 97.
But I was already ready for the moment.
You just see a new opportunity for something great to happen.
♪ [music] ♪