Mike Tuckman, 34, of the Chicago Cubs, pinch-hit for the Cubs in the ninth inning of the 2024 Major League Baseball World Series home game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois, on Sunday (Feb. 2) and delivered a game-winning single.
The Cubs were trailing 2-4 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning. To make matters worse, Ryan Helsley (St. Louis Cardinals) was on the mound, leading the National League in saves (33). As expected, the first batter, Seiya Suzuki, fouled out to first base, giving the Cubs only a 4.3% chance of winning according to MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball.
The Cubs got on the board first with a solo home run by Cody Bellinger in the bottom of the first inning. Working a 1B-2S count, Bellinger took a five-pitch fastball from Hellesley, a high 84.6 mph (136 km/h) curveball, over the center field wall for a two-run homer. No. 11 of the season.
The Cubs had the next batter, Isaac Paredes, on the ropes when he grounded to third, but after Nico Horner singled to center, Dansby Swanson stole second. Swanson, who was at the plate, followed with an RBI double to tie the game at 4-4.
The rally continued with two outs.
The Cubs bench pulled Pete Crowe-Armstrong for the converted Tuckman. Tuckman came to the plate and faced 0B-2S, but two pitches later, he calmly took a 98.9-mph (159-kilometer) five-pitch fastball from Hellesley for a two-run double to deep left field. 파워볼실시간 It was the dramatic come-from-behind hit that sealed the game.
The last-place Cubs in the National League Central beat second-place St. Louis 5-4 on Tuckman’s game-winning hit to sweep a four-game series and win their second straight.
“It was a great inning,” Tuckman said after the game, according to MLB.com. It feels really good,” he said, adding, “You always want to fight for your team. We’ve battled a lot of adversity this year, and we’re not where we want to be, but it’s a great start to the month. All we can do now is play our best baseball like we did today.”
Tuckman is no stranger to the domestic fan base.
He played in all 144 games for the Hanwha Eagles last season for a total of $1 million (KRW 1.3 billion) in 2022, batting .289 (166-for-575) with 12 home runs, 43 RBIs, 19 doubles, a .430 on-base percentage and a .366 slugging percentage.
In need of a big bat, Hanwha declined to re-sign Tuckman for the 2023 season, and Tuckman traveled to the United States and signed a minor league deal with the Cubs to try his hand at the major league level.
After being called up to the majors last year, Tuckman batted .252 with eight home runs, 48 RBIs, and a .740 OPS in 108 games. He was re-signed and in his second year, he is batting .701 with two doubles, six triples, five home runs, 20 RBIs and a .701 OPS in 78 games.
Tuckman also hit a game-winning home run on June 7 against the Chicago White Sox.