CHICAGO — As Travis Wood stepped to the plate, Cubs bullpen catcher Chad Noble said, “He’s gonna hit a home run.” This was silly. Wood is a relief pitcher. His last extra-base hit came in 2014, and the last time a reliever hit a postseason home run was 1924. But this is a time of crazy predictions; everybody and his great-grandmother is picking the Cubs to win the World Series.
On the next pitch, Wood knocked an 86-mile-per-hour George Kontos cutter over the fence.
“I was like, ‘Oh my god,’” Cubs reliever Carl Edwards Jr.