MILWAUKEE – Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner scrambled after the ball, looking sped up for the first time in his debut postseason.
A moment earlier, the gold glover had been trotting in on Brewers rookie Sal Frelick’s soft ground ball, timing the bounce as he’d done countless times in his baseball life. It came at him slower than expected, so even with runners on, he realized his only play was going to be at first base.
Then, mysteriously, the ball didn’t stick in his glove. It nicked off the tip and rolled behind him.
Hoerner got to it quickly and threw home, but it bounced into catcher Carson Kelly’s mitt behind the Brewers’ William Contreras, who safely superman slid across the plate.