Anthony Rizzo said he would send a text message Tuesday morning, presumably to the Chicago Cubs’ medical staff to let him know how his back was feeling.
But in the ninth inning of Monday night’s game against the Cincinnati Reds, Rizzo showed his back was fine as he ripped the second pitch from reliever Pedro Villarreal into the center field bleachers to give the Cubs a 1-0 victory.
According to Cubs historian Ed Hartig, this marked the first time the Cubs won on a walk-off home run that accounted for the only scoring since June 16, 1995, when Howard Johnson hit a two-run home run off Rudy Seanez of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the ninth inning to give the Cubs a 2-0 win at Wrigley.
This also marked the first time the Cubs earned a 1-0 win on a walk-off homer since June 8, 1971, when Joe Pepitone hit a homer off Mudcat Grant of Pittsburgh in the 12th inning at Wrigley.
It nearly seemed that long since Rizzo’s last game on Aug. 26, when he hit a home run at Cincinnati but came out after his back stiffened following a rain delay and eventually caused him to miss the next 18 games.
As soon as Rizzo stepped out of the box after connecting, he briefly reached toward his back.
“I did on purpose,” Rizzo said. “I was messing around with the guys. I definitely thought of it (the back) the whole game because it’s natural. To get through the game was nice. The next couple days we’ll just completely forget about it.
“Whenever you can win a game like that, it’s always fun. You don’t want to get hurt, but the emotion of the game (celebration) takes over there.”
Nevertheless, the Cubs and Rizzo will take precautionary measures.
Rizzo didn’t have the luxury of a minor league rehabilitation assignment, and he showed his rustiness as he struck out twice before being credited with an infield hit against Alfredo Simon.
“The first two (at-bats) were a battle,” Rizzo said. “He’s got a good split. He exposed me there. But he pitched well. I think that little infield single turned everything around there.
“In those situations, you do less. On the first pitch, I was taking all the way just to see (Villarreal’s) arm. On the second pitch, I just let loose. Fortunately, I put a good swing on it.”
Rizzo’s walk-off homer was the Cubs’ first since Rizzo hit a two-run home run in the 13th inning to beat the Miami Marlins on June 6.
