Cubs score run on wild defensive miscue by Pirates first baseman

Sometimes baseball can be a little repetitive. When the season is 162 games long, there can be all sorts of repetition. And yet, sometimes you’ll see something you’ve never seen before. Let’s cue up the third inning of Cubs-Pirates Thursday afternoon.

Javier Báez hit a two-out grounder to third base that Erik Gonzalez easily scooped up. He then fired to first, but was just a bit wide to the home plate side. It pulled Will Craig off the base and he went to tag Báez, but the Cubs shortstop turned back to home. Craig simply needed to step on first and the inning would be over, but instead he chased Báez ... toward a base Báez could not legally go to! In doing so, it gave Willson Contreras time to get home and score to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead.

And the play STILL wasn’t over! Báez turned back toward first after Contreras scored and Pirates catcher Michael Perez fired a throw to try and get Báez out. However, second baseman Adam Frazier had not arrived yet and in the midst of it all the ball shot past him allowing Báez to reach second. He would go on to score on an Ian Happ single.

This is not something you see every day!