Until a little more than a week ago, Dwight Smith was never a believer in Yogi Berra`s oft-quoted adage, ”It ain`t over `til it`s over.”
But on the night of July 20, with the Cubs trailing San Francisco 3-0 with two out in the bottom of the ninth and Steve Bedrosian on the mound, Smith`s pinch RBI single ignited a three-run rally that set the stage for a 4-3 Cubs victory in 11 innings.
”I believe it now,” Smith said that night. ”It ain`t over `til it`s over.”
It was more of the same for Smith and the comeback Cubs on a cool Friday afternoon before 37,554 at Wrigley Field. Trailing the New York Mets 5-2 with two out in the seventh, and with the wind gusting in at 17 miles an hour, the Cubs staged their second late-inning stunner at home in eight days.
Immediately after Rick Aguilera relieved Mets starter David Cone, Ryne Sandberg singled home one run. Smith followed by smashing Aguilera`s second pitch into the no-beer section in right for a two-run homer, capping a four-run inning that spelled a 6-5 victory.
Smith`s clout, his fourth of the year, broke an 0-for-17 slump that began the day he sang the national anthem at Wrigley Field last Friday. It was the third homer Aguilera (6-5) has given up in the last week and struck the slumping Mets with their fourth straight loss.
With the Expos losing to the Cardinals, the Cubs are within 1/2 games of first-place Montreal and 2 1/2 ahead of the third-place Mets.
Recalling the comeback against the Giants, Smith said: ”After that game, we knew we had a ballclub that`s not going to quit until the last out. I believe in that theory, `It ain`t over `til it`s over.` ”
And Smith`s homer didn`t mean Friday`s craziness was over, either. After Juan Samuel knocked a one-out pinch single off Mitch Williams in the Mets`
ninth, Howard Johnson poked a flare into short left that looked like a sure bloop hit. Samuel was running on the pitch and seemed a cinch to reach third with the tying run and only one out.
”I knew it was a hit,” said Cub manager Don Zimmer. ”Everyone on the bench knew it was a hit.”
But, unbelievably, it wasn`t a hit. Shortstop Shawon Dunston raced back, turned his body halfway around to make a basket catch, then fired the ball to first in time to double up a sliding Samuel and end the game in spectacular fashion. Dunston then turned around once more to trade leaping high-fives with co-hero Smith.
The celebration was only beginning. Upon returning to the clubhouse, almost half the team ran straight into the players` lounge to watch a replay of Dunston`s game-ending catch on TV.
”I`ve seen great catches before,” Zimmer said, ”but not any more important than that one. In the last three weeks, no one has played any better than he`s played.”
Dunston also had three hits, a stolen base, scored a run and drove one in. His average is up to .258.
The Cubs scored a first-inning run off Cone when Sandberg doubled and hustled home from second on a wild pitch that bounced off catcher Gary Carter all the way to the vistors` dugout.
The Cubs then pulled out a favorite from the Zimmer playbook to manufacture a run in the second. With Damon Berryhill on third and one out, Dunston executed a perfect squeeze bunt between first and second and beat the throw for an infield single.
But the lead was shortlived. Cubs starter Scott Sanderson, who escaped damage in the first and second innings despite being hit hard, couldn`t survive the third.
Johnson nailed him for a three-run homer into the teeth of the wind to put New York ahead 3-2. After Darryl Strawberry beat out a grounder to first and Kevin McReynolds singled to center, Zimmer brought in Jeff Pico. It was the second time in three starts that Sanderson had failed to make it past the third inning.
After walking Gary Carter one out later, Pico gave up a two-run single to Kevin Elster that increased the Mets` lead to 5-2. Both runs were charged to Sanderson.
”When we were two up with the wind blowing in, I felt like we had an 8-0 lead,” said Zimmer. ”When they were up 5-2, I felt like they were up by 8.” But the Cubs, who hadn`t won a game in which they trailed in the seventh inning until the aforementioned victory over San Francisco, proved they still had a little magic left in them.
An unsung hero was reliever Calvin Schiraldi (3-4), who pitched three hitless innings to notch the victory. Williams recorded his league-leading 26th save.
”This was a humbling game,” said Mets manager Dave Johnson, whose team had just been swept by Pittsburgh. ”These last two losses have been tough.”
