At one point during their game Tuesday against the Atlanta Braves, things were going quite smoothly for the Chicago Cubs. In Dansby Swanson's return to Atlanta, the Cubs once held a 6-0 advantage and looked to be cruising to a 1-0 lead in the series.
However, things would come crashing down for Chicago via a 7-0 unanswered runs barrage from the Braves offense, the final two of which occurred on an embarrassing error from Chicago outfielder Seiya Suzuki.
Nursing a one-run lead, the Cubs looked to be safely out of the eighth inning when a fly ball from Sean Murphy looped in Suzuki's direction. However, inexplicably, Suzuki was unable to come up with what seemed to be a routine catch, and the Braves scored two runs, before closed out Chicago in the top of the ninth inning.
The epic blunder drew a host of reactions from X, formerly known as Twitter.
"You're gonna catch that fly ball to end the inning right?"
Seiya Suzuki: pic.twitter.com/CuqdxlsUrY
— Jush (@Roseberg25) September 27, 2023
Don’t know if it makes Suzuki feel any better but the exact same thing happened to me in t-ball. Ended up being a game winning grand slam.
So, I know exactly what he’s going through
— Stephen (@b_outliers) September 27, 2023
The Chicago broadcasting team was understandably not thrilled by the mistake.
Cubs broadcast reacts to Seiya Suzuki missing the ball: pic.twitter.com/ms5I9Bp5U8
— MLB Clutch Moments And Walk Offs (@MLBWalk_Offs) September 27, 2023
The shocking loss dealt a brutal blow to the Cubs' chances of securing a Wild Card spot for the upcoming NL postseason. The result clinched home-field advantage in the Wild Card round for the Philadelphia Phillies, while also relinquishing control of the coveted second Wild Card spot to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Chicago will now need a lot of things to go right for them over the next few days in order to earn a spot in the postseason, starting tomorrow when they take on the Braves for Game Two of the series and look to put Tuesday's brutal result behind them.