Dodgers broadcaster Charley Steiner said Yasiel Puig would never hit an easier triple, though the dirt smeared on the front of Puig's uniform belied that assertion. Puig's triple in the sixth inning at a dimly lighted Wrigley Field did not matter in the long run -- the Dodgers still lost -- but it did evoke images of the Three Stooges and Pete Rose. Well, two Stooges and Pete Rose.
Watch:
It was obvious that neither Cubs center fielder Matt Szczur or right fielder Mike Baxter saw the ball until it hit the ground -- about 50 feet closer to the infield than either of them were playing. They had lost it in the dusk.
Doink.
By then, Puig was flying around second and diving head-first into third like Charlie Hustle. Puig appeared to begin his takeoff somewhere around shortstop and, in mid-air, he looked like Superman flying three feet over Metropolis. Puig hustled and got dirty, which he often doesn't get credit for -- and the Cubs were embarrassed, at least for a moment.
"Heavenly shades of night are falling -- it's twilight time," Steiner said, quoting a 70-year-old song. He should have sung it, like Doris Day or the Platters did.
Alas, the Dodgers couldn't bring in Puig (probably because Zack Greinke was pitching, and he's not allowed a lead). The Dodgers actually couldn't bring in anyone all night. The Cubs won 1-0 in 10 innings.