Javier Baez #9 of the Chicago Cubs beats a tag at home plate by Raffy Lopez #1 of the Toronto Blue Jays to score the winning run during the tenth inning at Wrigley Field on August 20, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois.Stacy Revere/Getty Images
Alex Avila felt for Raffy Lopez. It was quite a day for catchers.
Avila capped Chicago's three-run 10th inning with a two-run single, and the Cubs swept the Toronto Blue Jays with a wild 6-5 victory on Sunday.
With two outs and the bases loaded, Avila lined a base hit into right field against Roberto Osuna (3-4). Ben Zobrist scored easily and Javier Baez slid in safely just ahead of the tag attempt by Lopez.
"The first pitch that I fouled off was a cutter in deep and he tried to go back in there with another cutter and just kind of left it more middle of the plate," Avila said.
The improbable rally also included two batters reaching on swing-and-miss strikeouts and a wild pitch that scored Kyle Schwarber — all with Lopez behind the plate. The 29-year-old backstop also got beat up by a couple other balls in the inning.
"It is a tough one," he said. "You feel like it's your fault. Sometimes the game gets the best of you. You've just got to bounce back. Just learn from it. I just have to respond."
Toronto grabbed the lead with two runs in the top of the inning on Kevin Pillar's RBI single off Koji Uehara, and Norichika Aoki's bases-loaded loaded walk against Justin Wilson (4-4).
Osuna, however, was handed his eighth blown save of the year.
"They've got the magic here. There's no doubt about it," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said.
Pillar also robbed Kris Bryant of extra bases with a spectacular leaping catch against the ivy-covered wall in centre in the seventh, drawing appreciative cheers from the crowd of 41,459 at Wrigley Field.
Albert Almora Jr. hit a three-run double for NL Central-leading Chicago, which completed its fifth three-game sweep of the season. Kyle Hendricks allowed three runs and six hits in six innings.
"I do love that we don't quit," manager Joe Maddon said. "We talk about it all the time. We do not quit."
Chicago jumped in front on Almora's big hit in the third, but Toronto responded with single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth, capped by Miguel Montero's second homer since the Cubs traded the catcher to the Blue Jays. After Jose Bautista flied out to begin the sixth, Montero drove Hendricks' next pitch over the wall in left-centre.
Montero helped Chicago win the World Series last year, but was designated for assignment on June 28 after he blamed pitcher Jake Arrieta for allowing seven stolen bases in a loss to Washington. Montero and Arrieta quickly patched things up, and each side has said everything is fine.
"We've already been texting," Hendricks said after allowing the homer to Montero. "Those were just dumb pitches honestly, bad pitches to him. He's a good hitter. He can hit mistakes."