Levine: Javier Baez Becomes Chicago Cubs' Latest Hero

By Bruce Levine--

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A new hero every day has been a winning formula for the Cubs.

On Sunday, the team and 41,000 crazed fans watched Javier Baez walk off with the game-winning home run in the 13th inning against the Washington Nationals. The 4-3 win moved Chicago to an MLB-best 24-6.

"It's crazy, isn't it?" manager Joe Maddon said about his team's seventh straight win. "The one thing that sums this up is -- and I mean this -- I have the honor of being in that dugout and our guys are in that game to the last drop. A long game like that, we have been playing well, you could just mail it in. Our guys were in it to that last drop."

It was Baez's first career walk-off homer, and it came off of Blake Treinen.

"I was just trying to get on base and a good pitch to hit," he said. "After the second strike, I sat on his slider. I was just looking for that pitch and he threw it in the zone."

The day didn't start as well for the Cubs, as ace Jake Arrieta didn't have his best stuff. With a 22-1 mark since last June, Arrieta wasn't his supernatural self, showing wildness with his breaking ball through the first four innings.

"His stuff was actually outstanding," Maddon said. "His command of the stuff was not very good today. That is what put us behind the eight ball. It put him behind the eight ball. We were looking for more from him today and always. I had Rondon, Strop and Richard down. We had to somehow parcel that game out among the other relievers."

The command issue made Arrieta more predicable in fastball counts, and he gave up single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings and the Cubs fell behind 2-0 and 3-1.

Arrieta went five innings, allowing three runs, two earned on six hits and four walks while striking out seven and throwing 100 pitches. It marked his second five-innings outing in his past three starts.

Was this still a residual effect of the 119-pitch no-hitter he threw on April 21? Arrieta didn't really say.

"I didn't command the ball," Arrieta said. "My sinking fastball was off. I was erratic around the strike zone. I missed under the strike zone on the inner half of the plate. Give them credit -- they had a really good approach to me today. They stuck to the game plan well."

Arrieta had tied the franchise record for wins in his first six starts of the season before more difficult outing Sunday. His ERA went from 0.99 to 1.14.

The last time Arrieta lost was last July 25, when the Cubs were no-hit by Cole Hamels in a loss to the Philles. He had recorded 24 straight quality starts up until his five-inning effort and win against Milwaukee on April 28.

The hero of Sunday's win, Baez started the game on the bench. Maddon used every position player by the eighth inning trying to get back into the game. Kris Bryant's two-out, two-run single in the seventh inning knotted the game at 3-3.

From there, it was the stellar bullpen throwing eight shutout innings that set the stage for the dramatic Baez bomb. Trevor Cahill threw three innings and 58 pitches in relief of Arrieta. His leadoff single in the seventh also helped produce the tying runs.

"When I got on third and (third base coach Gary Jones) began telling me things like, 'Freeze on a liner and stop or go on this or that,' I was confused," Cahill said. "I was saying to myself just don't get thrown out at third."

For Baez and his teammates, nobody feels left out, whether they're in the lineup in the beginning or end of the game.

"Even when I am not (starting), like today, I got three at-bats," Baez said. "I am always ready to come in the game."

The 24-6 start is the Cubs' best beginning to a season since the 1907 team started the first 30 games with the same record.

Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.