CHICAGO -- The Cubs spent most of Monday night doing everything possible to waste an unforgettable performance.
They stranded runners. They went hitless with runners in scoring position deep into the game. They surrendered a late lead. And yet, when the final out was never recorded, none of it mattered.
Instead, a team that has made a habit of surviving chaos found another way.
Pedro Ramírez delivered a game-tying RBI single in the ninth inning and Matt Shaw drew a bases-loaded walk-off walk moments later as the Cubs erased a one-run deficit to stun the Rockies, 5-4, at Wrigley Field. The victory marked Chicago's Major League-leading ninth walk-off win of the season, tying the 2015 club for the most through 36 home games in franchise history, per the Elias Sports Bureau.
“We needed the ninth inning,” manager Craig Counsell said. “You’ve got to keep going, no matter what's going on in the game. We did a really good job of that tonight.”
That persistence was tested repeatedly.
The Cubs entered the ninth trailing 4-3 despite Pete Crow-Armstrong hitting for the cycle and driving in a pair of runs. For much of the evening, Chicago's offense seemed intent on turning a historic night into a frustrating loss.
The Cubs finished just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 15 runners. They left the bases loaded in the seventh inning. They caused chaos again in the eighth and came away with only one run. Every missed opportunity seemed to make Colorado's eventual victory feel more inevitable.
Then the Rockies cracked the door open.
Seiya Suzuki started the ninth by drawing a walk against Juan Mejia. Ian Happ followed with a routine ground ball back to the mound, but Mejia's throw sailed into center field, allowing Suzuki to advance to third. Nico Hoerner then worked a walk to load the bases with nobody out, ending Mejia's night and bringing right-hander Seth Halvorsen into the game.
The first challenge belonged to Ramírez.
Called upon off the bench as a pinch-hitter in the previous inning and playing in just his 14th Major League game, the rookie calmly lined a game-tying single to left field. It was Chicago's first hit with runners in scoring position all night and the first game-tying RBI of Ramírez's young career in the ninth inning or later.
Counsell was particularly impressed by the maturity of the at-bat.
“He spit on some close pitches and got a good pitch to hit,” Counsell said. “That's the game, man. You're going to have some moments that you don't succeed, and your teammates pick you up. That's how this works.”
Ramírez wasn't the only young Cub who answered the call.
One batter later, Shaw stepped into the box with the bases still loaded. The 2023 first-round Draft pick has spent much of the season navigating an inconsistent role, bouncing between starts, bench appearances and stretches without regular playing time. Counsell admitted that during the flight back from San Francisco on Sunday night, he found himself thinking about a simple objective.
“We've got to get Matt Shaw involved,” Counsell said.
Shaw did the rest.
After working a 3-1 count, he accepted ball four and tossed his bat aside as the winning run trotted home. The walk marked the third walk-off moment of Shaw's young career and capped one of the biggest wins of the Cubs' season.
“I love the game of baseball,” Shaw said. “Anytime I get to play, it really is enjoyable for me to be out there and playing the game I love.”
That attitude has helped Shaw endure a season that has demanded patience.
“It's given me a different perspective,” Shaw said. “It's not really about performance. It's about playing and enjoying the game, because opportunities aren't always there.”
The same could be said for the Cubs as a whole.
For seven innings, they looked like a team searching for ways to lose. For one inning, they looked like the resilient club that spent the first few months piling up comeback victories.
Crow-Armstrong's cycle will rightfully command most of the attention from Monday's game. But inside the clubhouse afterward, the conversation repeatedly drifted back to the ninth inning and the players who helped rescue it.
“We're a scrappy team,” Crow-Armstrong said. “But we're also going to be a team that feels more dangerous than scrappy when stuff gets rolling again.”
On Monday night, they were both.
Scrappy enough to survive a night that easily could have slipped away. Dangerous enough to make sure it didn't.