PITTSBURGH – Call it a day late and two outs short.
But a few hours after the most devastating loss of the season in Philadelphia, the Cubs recalled infielder Addison Russell from Class AAA Iowa to help shore up a bench that failed them in Thursday’s disastrous ninth inning.
“It was frustrating from a front office standpoint, but we were actually kind of getting things in motion to get Addy here anyway,” general manager Jed Hoyer said. “And not having Javy [Baez] in that game, it was just kind of bad luck.”
With Gold Glove-caliber shortstop Baez sidelined Thursday because of a flu bug, the Cubs were forced to start below-average fielder David Bote – who botched a one-out hopper in the ninth to open a six-run Phillies rally.