Moreno single scores Longoria, Cubs now up half a game in wild card
Suddenly, the Chicago Cubs are feeling the heat.
Two weeks are left in the regular season and what once was a seemingly safe place in the wild card race has started to turn sideways for the North Siders.
Gabriel Moreno singled to right field and Evan Longoria beat the tag attempt by catcher Yan Gomes at the plate to finish out a two-run 13th inning as the Arizona Diamondbacks came back for the third time in extra innings, this time pulling out the 7-6 victory.
And now the Cubs are holding on to the second wild card spot by a half game over the charging Diamondbacks and Cincinnati Reds, both tied for the third wild card spot, and by a game over the Miami Marlins, who have dominated the first two games of a three-game set with the Atlanta Braves, the team with the best record in baseball.
Uh-oh.
The 13th inning started with Tommy Pham at second base. Pham moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Jake McCarthy. Longoria walked, and one out later, Emmanuel Rivera hit a shot off pitcher Hayden Wesneski’s upper frame and landed in froint of shortstop Dansby Swanson for a hit to score Pham and move Longoria to second. Moreno then singled to right field. Right fielder Seiya Suzuki got the ball back to Gomes, but the 37-year-old Longoria was able to manuever his hand around Gomes’ tag attempt to win it for Arizona.
The top of the Cubs’ lineup — Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner and Christopher Morel — went 6-for-18 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Gomes, hitting in the eighth slot of the lineup had two hits and scored three runs.
The Cubs have now lost seven of their last nine games.
https://www.mlb.com/gameday/cubs-vs-d-backs/2023/09/16/716558/final/box
The Chicago Cubs and the State of the NL Wild Card Race
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