CHICAGO — Baseball games don't come much crazier than what we saw unfold at Wrigley Field on Saturday night.
Just pick a moment...
The call on Schwarber at third base, the big two RBI hit by Dexter Fowler, the Nico Hoerner home run to swing the lead, Matt Carpenter's inexplicable rounding of second base, Ozuna's bomb to give the Cards the lead back, Gallegos' called balk and Kemp's ensuing two run homer and of course Molina and DeJong's back-to-back jacks in the ninth off Craig Kimbrel to give the Cardinals the lead for good.
No kidding, all of that really happened in one baseball game.
It was a game that could only happen at Wrigley Field, and had the feeling of something we've seen before.
Remember the Ryne Sandberg Game in 1984? Saturday's contest thankfully had a sweeter ending for Cardinals fans, though.
The players knew it in the moment, too. If you get a ball up in the air, there's no telling where it might end up.
"I've been playing in this ballpark for a long time, so I have a pretty good idea of when the ball is flying out. Today was one of those days," Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina said. "If you put the ball in the air something is going to happen. I told the guys today that 'Hey, just keep fighting. Anything can happen.'"
"You know how Wrigley can be. It can be kind of crazy with the back and forth here," Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong said. "To be able to win these three games by one run is a pretty good testament to our team."
The game wasn't just important in the moment, though.
The Cardinals' third win in a row against the Cubs sends their arch rivals to the brink of elimination and moved the Cards one step closer to capturing the division crown.
One thing has become apparent for the 2019 Cardinals, and it's something fans should be used to seeing from their redbirds over the years. Never count them out.
"We don't give up," Molina said. "Today was a perfect example that we're never going to give up. We believe in ourselves and we showed that today."
"For us to come out here and win these three games all by one run, I mean, It's pretty incredible to really fight back and pick each other up," DeJong said. "I lost my voice from screaming so much, but it was worth it and a true testament to our team right now how we're playing as a group and just how we pick each other up."
"When you invest as much as this groups invests in what they do every day and you invest about something being bigger than you, that means you care," Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. "And when you care it means you fight. And that's what this team does. It cares and it fights. It cares for each other, it cares to compete and win baseball games and that's what you see."