Chicago Cubs catcher David Ross is saving the wildest innings of his career for Game 7 of the World Series.
Ross entered the game to catch Cubs pitcher John Lester in the bottom of the fifth inning with Chicago leading 5-1. Lester replaced Kyle Hendrix, who walked Carlos Santana with two out. Lester’s pitch to Francisco Lindor bounced off the dirt and clocked Ross in the mask, ricocheting to the right side of foul territory.
Ross was dazed by the pitch, and fell to the ground. He then tracked down the ball and threw back to Lester covering home, but it was too late to get the runner from second.
Earlier in the inning, a throwing error on Ross put both runners in scoring position and kept the inning alive for Cleveland. Ross threw away a Jason Kipnis infield hit that moved Santana to third and Kipnis to second. Both runners came around to score on Lester’s wild pitch.
In the top of the sixth inning, Ross hit a 2-out home run to get one of those unearned runs back for the Cubs and reestablish a 3-run lead. Ross is now the oldest player to hit a home run in a World Series Game 7, which will be the last of his career. He had a series of very interesting celebrations with teammates after that home run.
