The Cubs sure don’t make it easy on themselves. Holding a two-run lead in the ninth inning with the Blue Jays down to their last out with runners on second and third base, reliever Hector Neris allowed a game-tying triple by George Springer. After Neris struck out center fielder Daulton Varsho, the 39,614 fans at Wrigley Field booed the reliever.
He allowed three runs in the inning. However, designated hitter Seiya Suzuki salvaged the game with a 10th-inning walk-off single, the first of his career, in Friday’s 6-5 win over the Blue Jays. “He had a tough inning today, no question about it,” manager Craig Counsell said of Neris.
“They had some good at-bats. They kind of jumped him, and they had some two-strike hits against him. But you got to keep making pitches.
“We can be upset that the game got tied. He had to make big pitches to get Varsho out, keep the game tied and give us a chance. No one likes to give up runs.
” Neris is well-respected in the locker room, but his performance turned a game that should have been a comfortable win into a nail-biter. It’s now or never for the Cubs if they want to salvage an otherwise disappointing season and Friday’s showing was uneven. “It’s a win, and that’s the big thing,” Counsell said.
“It’d be great to pick out every win and make them beautiful. But a win’s a win.” The offense was the driving force behind Friday’s win.
After the Blue Jays tied the game in the fourth inning, Pete Crow-Armstrong and c.