Almora, Bryant rally Cubs in 10th to split DH

Schwarber's game-tying HR in 7th takes Montgomery off hook

June 20th, 2018

CHICAGO -- Albert Almora Jr. ripped a walk-off single to right field in the 10th inning to give the Cubs a 2-1 win and split Tuesday's doubleheader with the Dodgers at Wrigley Field.
led off the 10th with a triple into the right-field corner off , and the Dodgers intentionally walked to set up the game-winner from Almora.
Almora said he took it "personal" -- the Dodgers had intentionally walked the batter before him to load the bases in Game 1 and he popped out to end the eighth inning. The 10th inning of Game 2 gave Almora a shot at redemption.
"I really wanted that one pretty bad," Almora said. "I absolutely knew they were going to walk Javy to pitch to me. It was just a little bit of revenge from the first game."

Cubs manager Joe Maddon said he wasn't quite sure why the Dodgers chose to face Almora over Baez, who is more prone to strikeouts, with a runner on third and nobody out.
"That's why he was hitting three. Albert makes contact," Maddon said. "The first game, he popped that one ball up, but I loved him in that moment. I have no idea what their strategy was but I loved him in that moment."

tied the game, 1-1, in the seventh when he crushed a home run to right field off reliever , who entered Tuesday's game without allowing a run in 19 straight innings -- the longest active streak in the Majors.
The homer was Schwarber's 13th of the season, and it had an exit velocity of 101.8 mph and traveled a projected 400 feet, according to Statcast™.

Mike Montgomery, making his fifth start in place of the injured , wasn't as sharp as he has been but was able to escape trouble for most of the night. The Dodgers got to him in the sixth inning when singled to left to bring home , who stole second with two outs to get into scoring position.
The Dodgers loaded the bases in the 10th against -- called up as the Cubs' 26th man for the second game of the doubleheader -- before lefty came in and got to fly out and end the inning.

"They bring their best against us," Almora said. "To be the best you've got to beat the best."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Baez was making his first start since getting hit on the elbow in Sunday night's game vs. the Cardinals, and he wasted little time before flashing some leather. He made a nice backhanded snag on a grounder up the middle to end the fifth inning and started a 4-6-3 double play in the eighth.
"He's exciting, there's no question," Maddon said. "We enjoy watching it as much as the fans do. He also had really good at-bats."

YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
With nobody out and a runner on first in the seventh, made a leaping grab to rob of extra bases and tagged the bag with his glove to complete a double play.

HE SAID IT
"I just wanted to get it done. First of all, I wanted to go home and sleep. I wanted to do it myself just because it's a little payback from the first game." -- Almora, on his walk-off hit after spending more than 12 hours at the ballpark Tuesday
UP NEXT
will take the mound for the Cubs in the finale of this three-game series. Lester is 4-1 with a 1.91 ERA over his past five starts, and opponents are hitting .190 against him in that span. Right-hander will start for the Dodgers, with first pitch set for 1:20 p.m. CT from Wrigley Field.