Javier Baez steals home, continues winning October

CHICAGO — Javier Baez stole home on Saturday night and it was something that Chicago Cubs fans hadn’t seen in a long time.

How long?

Well, let’s put it this way: The Cubs have won a World Series since one of their players stole home in the postseason.

Baez’s second-inning steal was the first for the Cubs since 1907, the first of two straight championships before their infamous World Series title drought began. The second baseman slid under Carlos Ruiz’s tag for a 3-0 Cubs lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The play was started when Ruiz attempted to pick Baez off at third. Baez broke from home instead of returning to the base and scored when Justin Turner’s throw home went high.

The play capped an adventurous trip around the bases for Baez, who got on base after he hit a bloop to mid center field and hustled into second base for a RBI double, scoring Jason Heyward. Baez then took third on a wild pitch from Los Angeles starter Kenta Maeda.

It was the Cubs’ first postseason steal of home since 1907 and the first in the majors since 2010.

Baez has had quite a coming out party during the past week. He hit the game-winning home run in a 1-0 win over the San Francisco Giants in Game 1 of the NLDS and the game-winning hit in the Cubs’ big ninth-inning comeback in Game 4. Baez went 6-for-16 against Giants pitching while playing stellar defense over the four games.