FanPost

Cubs' run-scoring double plays

The Cubs tied a pair of obscure team records in Saturday's gut-wrenching 7-6 loss at Arizona.

In the 13th inning, with score knotted at 5, Ian Happ came to bat with nobody out, Yan Gomes on third base and Patrick Wisdom on first.

Happ swung and dribbled a ball toward first base which, after some hesitation, the first base umpire called fair. The first baseman stepped on the bag, retiring Happ, then threw to the shortstop, who tagged out Wisdom.

On the double play, Gomes scored.

That matched the latest inning in which the Cubs ever have tallied a run on a ground ball double play.

...

It also was the second time in Saturday's game that the Cubs had scored in that manner.

Back in the fifth inning, with the Cubs trailing, 2-0, they loaded the bases with nobody out on a double by Gomes, an infield single by Nick Madrigal on which Gomes stayed at second, and a walk by Happ.

A walk by Nico Hoerner forced in a run.

Christopher Morel then grounded into to the shortstop, who initiated a double play on which Madrigal scored the tying run.

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RARE PAIR

After many hours of research, I found that the Cubs had scored twice on ground ball double plays in just 6 earlier games since 1914, first season for which baseball-reference.com has searchable play-level data.

Each of the first 3 was at Brooklyn, between 1915 and 1941.

In the next 80 years, it happened only twice.

Saturday was the second time in less than 13 months!

Following is a look at those games, in chronological order.

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AUG. 18, 1915, at Brooklyn

First DP: 1st inning

Score: 0-0

Runners: bases loaded

Batter: Heinie Zimmerman

How made: 6-4-3

Second DP: 7th inning

Score:Cubs ahead, 8-0

Runners: bases loaded

Batter: Roger Bresnahan

How made: 4-6-3

Outcome: Cubs won, 9-0

...

MAY 14, 1923, at Brooklyn

First DP: 4th inning

Score: Cubs behind, 3-1

Runners: first and third

Batter: Hack Miller

How made: 4-6-3

Second DP: 8th inning

Score: Cubs behind, 6-2

Runners: first and third

Batter: Bernie Friberg

How made: 6-4-3

Outcome: Cubs lost, 6-3

...

AUG. 21, 1941, at Brooklyn

First DP: 2nd inning

Score:Cubs ahead, 1-0

Runners: first and third

Batter: Clyde McCullough

How made: 4-6-3

Second DP: 3rd inning

Score: Cubs ahead, 2-0

Runners: Bases loaded

Batter: Dom Dallessandro

How made: 4-6-3

Outcome: Cubs won, 6-2

...

JUNE 2, 1979, at home vs. Giants

First DP: 1st inning

Score:Cubs behind, 1-0

Runners: first and third

Batter: Bill Buckner

How made: 4-6-3

(Next batter, Dave Kingman, hit tying home run)

Second DP: 8th inning

Score: Cubs behind, 7-5

Batter: Scot Thompson

How made: 4-3-6-3-5!

Outcome: Cubs lost, 8-6

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APRIL 5, 2000, at St. Louis

First DP: 2nd inning

Score: Cubs behind,3-2

Runners: first and third

Batter: Joe Girardi

How made: 6-3

2nd DP: 9th inning

Score: Cubs behind,10-3

Runners: first and third

Batter: Eric Young Sr.

How made: 6-4-3

Outcome: Cubs lost, 10-4

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AUG. 23, 2021, at home vs. Rockies

First DP: 6th inning

Score: Cubs behind, 3-0

Runners: Bases loaded

Batter: David Bote

How made: 6-4-3

2nd DP: 8th inning

Score: Cubs behind, 4-2

Batter: David Bote

How made: 6-4-3

(Next batter, Michael Hermosillo, doubled home tying run. Note that Bote hit into both double plays!)

Outcome: Cubs won, 6-4, on 1-out walk-off homer in ninth by Rafael Ortega

...

With Saturday's loss at Arizona, the Cubs are 3-4 in games in which they have scored twice on ground ball double plays.

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DOUBLE PLAY DATA

According to the data at baseball-reference.com, the Cubs have hit into 14,491 double plays in their 17,193 games since Opening Day of 1914, an average of 0.85 per game.

11,996 of the double plays were on ground balls, 82.8 percent of the total.

1,964 of the ground ball double plays, 16.4 percent, came with runners on first and third or the bases loaded.

The runner from third scored on 415 of those double plays, 21.1 percent of the 1,964, or about 1 of every 5.

Saturday's pair were the Cubs' fourth and fifth of the season. They had a sixth Sunday night.

109 of the runs gave the Cubs a lead, 26.3 percent of all 415 runs.

53 of the runs tied the game, 12.8 percent of all the runs.

That's a total of 162 runs that snapped or created a tie, 39.1 percent of all runs that scored on the double plays, or 8.2 percent of all first and third or bases-loaded double plays -- about 1 of every 12.

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LATEST BY INNING

Until Saturday, the only time the Cubs had scored on a ground ball double play in the 13th inning had been on Aug. 8, 1990, the second anniversary of the Cubs' thwarted attempt to play their first night game at Wrigley Field.

The 1990 game also was at Wrigley, but in the afternoon.

After 9 scoreless innings, the Cardinals pushed across 2 runs in the 10th on a double, a single and another double.

In the bottom half, the first 2 Cubs singled, then were bunted to second and third. The lead runner scored moments later on a weak tap toward the mound. The tying run followed on an error by the third baseman.

...

The Cards regained the lead in the 13th on a single, a bunt, a 2-out intentional walk and a single.

Girardi greeted new reliever Tom Niedenfuer with a single to right. He raced to third on a single to left by Dwight Smith and tied the score as Jerome Walton grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.

Each team grounded into a double play in the 14th.

Girardi started the Cubs' 15th with a single. With 1 out, Walton singled, with Girardi stopping at second.

Ryne Sandberg popped up, but Mark Grace was hit by a pitch, loading the bases, and Andre Dawson gave the Cubs a 4-3 victory by lining a hit to left.

...

That was the first time the Cubs ever scored on a double play in extra innings.

The only time after that before Saturday was on Sept. 29, 2004, at home against the Reds.

The Cubs had been 1 out from a 2-1 victory in the ninth when LaTroy Hawkins surrendered a first-pitch triple and an 0-2 double.

Jon Leicester walked the first batter he faced in the 12th. The next pitch was smacked for a 2-run homer.

Corey Patterson drew a walk in the Cub's half. He reached third when the pitcher threw wildly to second on a bunt by Nomar Garciaparra, who stopped at third.

Moises Alou then hit into an around-the-horn double play, on which Patterson scored.

Aramis Ramirez singled, but Derrek Lee struck out swinging to complete a 4-3 defeat.

So, Saturday was the first game since 1914 in which the Cubs scored a run on a ground ball double play in extra innings on the road.

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LATE TIE BREAKERS

Happ's 13th-inning double play at Arizona was by far the latest by a Cub on the road that put the Cubs in the lead.

They had had only 2 previously go-ahead ground ball double plays as late as the seventh. Both came with runners on the corners.

The first was by Woody English, on Sept. 4, 1929, in Game 1 of a doubleheader at St. Louis, with the score 7-7.

Frankie Frisch led off the Cardinals' half with a game-tying homer, then the Cards tallied 6 runs in the eighth to win, 14-8.

The second was by Anthony Rizzo, on June 9, 2021, at San Diego, with the score 1-1. It came against former Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish.

Sergio Alcantara hit a solo homer in the eighth and the Cubs held on to win, 3-1.

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GO-AHEAD DOUBLE PLAYS

102 of the Cubs' 415 run-scoring ground ball double plays put them in front: 39 at home and 63 on the road.

The latest in any inning at home was the fifth.

They did it 4 times, in 2 sets of back-to-back seasons: 1952, against the Braves, and 1953, against the Cardinals, then 1973 and 1974, both against the Phillies. The score was knotted at 2 in the first and third games; at 1, in the second and fourth.

Here is the breakdown of tie-breaking double plays by inning, with the number of times at home and on the road in parentheses after each total:

1st: 53 (17/36)

2nd: 10 (5/5)

3rd: 13 (7/6)

4th: 14 (6/8)

5th: 6 (4/2)

6th: 3 (0/3)

7th: 2 (0/2)

13th: 1 (0/1)

Total: 102 (39/63).

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The score was 0-0 when the Cubs scored on 77 double plays; 1-1, on 12; 2-2, on 7; 3-3, on 3; 5-5, on 2; and 7-7, on 1.

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GAME-TYING DOUBLE PLAYS

The Cubs tied the score when they hit into a double play 53 times: 28 at home, 25 on the road.

They pulled even in the bottom of the ninth 3 times.

On June 30, 1957, Ernie Banks' 6-4-3 double play with the bases loaded tied the Dodgers at 2. He doubled home the winning run with 1 out in the 11th.

On June 9, 1983, and June 5, 1994, the Cubs erased 4-3 deficits on double plays with runners at first and third. Ron Cey was the batter in 1983, against the Mets; Jose Hernandez, in 1984, against the Expos.

The Cubs lost to the Mets, 6-4, on a 2-out, 2-run double in the 11th.

They lost, 10-4, to the Expos, who scored 6 runs in the the 13th on 3 singles, 2 doubles, a triple, a home run, an intentional walk and a passed ball. The Cubs mustered 1 run on 2 singles and a 2-out double.

The Cubs' latest game-tying double play on the road was in the eighth inning at San Diego on June 2, 1972. The Cubs had been blanked until Don Kessinger's 4-6-3 double play. Ken Rudolph's 2-out RBI single lifted the Cubs to a 2-1 victory.

Here is the breakdown of game-tying double plays by inning, with the number of times at home and on the road in parentheses after each total:

1st: 4 (4/0)

2nd: 8 (6/2)

3rd: 5 (1/4)

4th: 14 (7/7)

5th: 4 (3/1)

6th: 4 (1/3)

7th: 8 (1/7)

8th: 2 (1/1)

9th: 3 (3/0)

13th: 1 (1/0)

Total: 53 (28/25)

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ALL DOUBLE PLAYS WHEN BEHIND

The Cubs have scored runs on 182 double plays when behind by any score: 98 at home and 84 on the road.

Here is how many times the Cubs have been behind by other numbers of runs when they scored on a ground ball double play:

2: 50

3: 31

4: 27

5: 10

6: 2

7: 3

8: 1

8: 1

10: 4 (3 of 10-0, 1 each of 12-2)

11: 2 (11-0 and 12-1)

13: 1 (15-2; run scored in bottom of ninth!)

Here is the breakdown of all run-scoring double plays when behind by inning, with the number of times at home and on the road in parentheses after each total:

1st: 10 (10/0)

2nd: 17 (11/6)

3rd: 17 (9/8)

4th: 30 (17/13)

5th: 19 (12/7)

6th: 26 (13/13)

7th: 25 (7/18)

8th: 14 (5/9)

9th: 22 (12/10)

12th: 1 (1/0)

13th: 1 (1/0)

Total: 182 (98/84)

Note that there have been 31 more at home in the 1st through 6th and in the 9th through 13th, but 25 more on the road in the 7th and 8th.

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DOUBLE PLAYS WHEN AHEAD

The Cubs have scored 131 runs on double plays that increased leads: 64 at home and 67 on the road.

They led by 1 run when they hit into 35 double plays.

Here is how many times the Cubs have been behind by other numbers of runs when they scored on a ground ball double play:

2: 27

3: 20

4: 11

5: 13

6: 6

7: 5

8: 5

9: 2

10: 2 (both 9-1)

11: 1 (11-0)

12: 1 (12-0)

20: 1 (20-0)

The 1 with the score 20-0 came on April 23, 2022, in the bottom of the eighth inning. It was hit by Jason Heyward with runners on the corners.

That was the final run in the largest shutout in the Cubs' history.

Here is the breakdown of all run-scoring double plays when ahead by inning, with the number of times at home and on the road in parentheses after each total:

1st: 11 (7/6)

2nd: 8 (4/4)

3rd: 26 (13/13)

4th: 14 (5/9)

5th: 20 (12/8)

6th: 19 (11/8)

7th: 18 (7/11)

8th: 9 (5/4)

9th: 4 (0/4)

Total: 131 (64/67)

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ALL RUN-SCORING DOUBLE PLAYS BY INNING

Here is the breakdown of all run-scoring double plays, regardless of score, by inning, with the number of times at home and on the road in parentheses after each total:

1st: 76 (34/42)

2nd: 35 (20/15)

3rd: 56 (29/27)

4th: 58 (28/30)

5th: 45 (28/17)

6th: 48 (24/24)

7th: 45 (14/31)

8th: 23 (10/13)

9th: 26 (12/14)

12th: 1 (0/1)

13th: 2 (1/1)

Total: 415 (201/214)

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48.4 percent came at home and 51.6 percent on the road.

24.6 percent came with the score tied, 31.6 percent with the Cubs ahead and 43.8 percent with the Cubs behind.

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