Levine: Last Cubs Bench Player Gets Job Done In Another Crazy Walk-Off Win

By Bruce Levine--

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A walk-off bases-loaded single by the last man on the bench sealed another improbable win for the playoff-bound Chicago Cubs on a Monday night that stretched into Tuesday morning. Regulated to catching once every five days or so now, Miguel Montero drilled an RBI single to score Kris Bryant with the winning run in the 13th inning to complete Chicago's dramatic 8-7 win against Pittsburgh at Wrigley Field.

Montero's first walk off-hit since April 30, 2014 was a softly served line single to left field on a 1-2 count.

"I guess they didn't check my career stats with the bases loaded," Montero said. "When I saw the bases loaded, I felt pretty good about myself. I am hitting .350 with the bases loaded. I was still feeling good about the moment with a lefty on the the mound."

The Cubs' magic number to clinch the NL Central is now 19. To drop that number yet again, the never-say-die Cubs rallied on several occasions. Down 6-3, they scored two in the eighth inning, tied it on a Jorge Soler solo homer in the ninth, then plated two runs in the 13th after the Pirates took a 7-6 lead in the top half.

"I was just thinking about making some hard contact," Soler said of his big homer through an translator. "It just worked out for us."

Early on, it appeared Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta was on pace to earn his 17th win, but his 3-1 lead was erased on a three-run homer by Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco in the sixth inning. Arrieta took a no-decision but did give up six runs for the second time this season, this time in 6 1/3 innings.

Afterward, he was proud of his teammates.

"The resiliency of our team is incredible," Arrieta said. "I didn't pitch as well as I would have liked to. Giving up two homers was the difference for me. A couple of crazy plays at the plate and a rundown I was involved in were a part of it. An interesting ballgame -- after being down 6-3 was really big for us."

Arrieta (16-5) still has a fair chance of becoming the first Cubs pitcher to have back-to-back 20-win seasons in 44 years. Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins had six straight 20-win years from 1967-'72. Arreita will get at least five and maybe six starts in the last 32 games of the season.

Arrieta gave up two home runs for only the third time this season. A moving strike zone by home plate umpire Tripp Gibson caused a verbal assault by Arrieta and Cubs manager Joe Maddon in the seventh inning. The Cubs insisted Gibson missed a strike three call on what would've been a strike-him-out, throw-him-out double play, and Maddon came out to protect Arrieta, who got every bit of his two cents in.

The Pirates soon followed by scoring two runs after Arrieta was pulled.

"It was tough and a heated moment there," Arrieta said. "At the end of the day, a couple of calls didn't go my way. You just deal with it and move on."

Maddon was expecting to get thrown out by Gibson. Arrieta tried to give him the ball, and Maddon refused it. Instead, he waited for Gibson to come to the mound so he could have his say. Gibson refused to throw anyone out.

Instead he faced Arrieta and Maddon like a professional who knew he might have missed a call.

"He is a young umpire who maybe will take a look at the game on video and reassess what happened," Maddon said. "He is a wonderful young man. He is a good guy, but I could only take so much. He is a guy you can talk to. At he end of the day when you are constantly frustrated, you have to make your point. That is what I did."

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