You truly never know what you¡¯re going to see on any given day at the ballpark. That mantra was on full display at Wrigley Field on Friday afternoon in front of 39,109 fans and all of us watching at home.
The Cubs entered the top of the eighth up 7-1. The final score? 13-11, Cubs.
Let¡¯s explain how we got there.
The Diamondbacks scored 10 runs in the top of the eighth, including a Eugenio Su¨¢rez grand slam after Ian Happ had hit a grand slam in the bottom of the prior frame. Seeing a 7-1 lead evaporate into a 11-7 deficit made fans restless, to say the least.
But they were rewarded for sticking with their team almost immediately, with the Cubs adding six more runs in the bottom of the eighth on home runs from Carson Kelly (his second of the game), Kyle Tucker and Seiya Suzuki.
Three outs later, the Cubs wrapped up a Friday victory that was anything but easy as "Go Cubs Go" played throughout the ballpark.
Here¡¯s a look at five stats and facts from a crazy afternoon at Wrigley.
? The two teams combined to score 16 runs in the eighth inning. That was the most runs in an inning in the history of Wrigley Field, which opened in 1914 and became the Cubs¡¯ home in 1916, per the Elias Sports Bureau. The prior record had been 15 on Aug, 25, 1922, in the fourth inning. That time, the Phillies scored one and the Cubs scored 14 in their half of the inning.
? It was the first time any two teams combined for at least 16 runs in an inning since the Giants and Rockies on May 5, 2016, in the fifth inning. Colorado scored 13 in the top of the inning and San Francisco had four in the bottom in a game that somehow was not at Coors Field.
? The Cubs became the seventh team since 1900 to allow at least 10 runs in an inning and win the game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The last time it happened was Aug. 23, 2006, when Cleveland allowed a 10-run first in K.C., but won, 15-13 in 10 innings. Before that, it was the Phillies on June 8, 1989, against the Pirates (10-run first inning) -- which famously led to a Bucs broadcaster walking home from Philadelphia after declaring there was no way they¡¯d lose the game. Before that, it was the Yankees vs. the A¡¯s on June 3, 1933 (11-run third inning), Cubs vs. the Reds on Sept. 26, 1912 (10-run ninth), Giants at the Braves on June 20, 1912 (10-run ninth) and the A¡¯s against the Yankees on May 3, 1912 (10-run ninth).
? But of course, it wasn¡¯t just the 10 runs they allowed. The Cubs scored six of their own in the bottom half of the inning. If that feels unique, it¡¯s because it is. The Cubs became the fifth team in the past 125 seasons to score at least six runs and allow at least 10 runs in the same inning of a game. On May 8, 2004, the Tigers scored eight runs in the top of the fifth, but then allowed 10 to the Rangers in the bottom of the inning in an eventual 16-15 loss. On Aug. 3, 1986, Cleveland allowed 10 runs to the Yankees in the top of the fifth and then scored six of its own in the bottom of the inning en route to a 12-8 loss. On April 10, 1977, the Red Sox allowed 13 runs in the top of the eighth to Cleveland and punched back with six in the bottom of the inning, but it wasn¡¯t enough as they lost, 19-9. The only other team to do this and win the game, as the Cubs did Friday, was the Giants in the aforementioned June 20, 1912, game in Boston, where they scored seven runs in the top of the ninth to take a 21-2 lead, and held on to win despite allowing 10 in the bottom of the inning for a final score of 21-12.
? The Cubs and Diamondbacks combined for 21 runs over two innings, between the seventh and eighth. That tied the record for most runs scored over two consecutive innings in Cubs history, per team historian Ed Hartig. The other time it happened was Sept. 4, 1893, in a game against Baltimore at the West Side Grounds in Chicago. The Cubs, who batted first, scored four runs in the second, then allowed 10 runs in the bottom of the inning. The Cubs then scored seven in the top of the third and shut out Baltimore in the bottom of the third.