Editor’s note: This article was originally published here five years ago. It has been lightly edited and is being published again to celebrate the game’s 35th anniversary.
In 1989, the Cubs held first place for most of May and June, but then lost seven straight games at the end of June, falling out of first place and falling 2.5 games out of first place in the National League East as they faced the Giants at Wrigley Field on July 20.
Mike Lakos was a good but not great pitcher, but he held the Cubs to three hits and no runs in the first seven innings, striking out nine. The Giants took a 3-0 lead behind left-hander Paul Kilgus and held that lead going into the ninth with closer Steve Bedrosian on the mound, who, as was popular for closers at the time, pitched eight innings.
With one out, Mark Grace and Damon Berryhill singled, but Lloyd McClendon popped out for the second out of the bottom of the ninth, leaving the Cubs trailing by three. Dwight Smith singled to make it 3–1, and Smith and Berryhill advanced to second and third on a throwing error. Curtis Wilkerson then singled to score at two and tie the game.
In the 10th inning, both teams had runners in scoring position, but neither could score. Les Lancaster, who prevented the Giants from scoring in the 10th inning, also held them scoreless in the 11th inning.
In the bottom of the 11th, McClendon singled, but Smith got into a double play. Wilkerson then singled. The Cubs had just returned from a West Coast road trip and used a lot of relief pitchers, so they gave Lancaster the batting position. Manager Zimmer knew he needed Lancaster to pitch in the 12th inning.
Les Lancaster was, as far as I can remember, one of the worst hitting pitchers of the era. He came into that game with a career batting average of .071 (5 hits in 70 at bats).
Lancaster smashed a double down the left field line, allowing Wilkerson to score from first base, one of only four doubles he had in his career and giving him a career batting average of .097 (13 for 132, 64 strikeouts).
(For those of you who don’t know the announcer’s voice, it’s Al Michaels. The game aired on ABC, but ABC moved its Monday night baseball coverage to Thursdays in 1989, and this was the last year ABC aired MLB games.)
The Cubs won the game, 4–3. This is one of only three games in Cubs history in which a relief pitcher has hit a walk-off home run; the other three were on May 25, 1927, when relief pitcher Charlie Root hit a game-winning single against the Reds, and on June 6, 1963, when Lindy McDaniel hit a game-winning single against the Giants, the latter of which is worth discussing in more detail.
McDaniel came to the mound in the top of the 10th inning against the Giants with the score tied at 2–2 and the bases loaded with one out. He got Willie Mays out at second base and struck out Ed Bailey before coming up to bat as the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the 10th and hitting a walk-off home run.
Lancaster’s walk-off double continued the Cubs’ winning streak, and including that game, they went on to win 21 of their next 28 games, taking a 4.5-game lead in the NL East on August 17 and ultimately winning the division by six games.
Les Lancaster’s winning hit was born 35 years ago today, on Thursday, July 20th, 1989.
