Merry Christmas: Fondly Remembering the Christian Bethancourt Game

[Andrew Wright]

When the Cubs signed Christian Bethancourt to a minor-league deal in July 2024, they couldn't have guessed the amount of production he'd provide.

Image courtesy of © Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

One August day against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Bethancourt got his occasional start behind the plate, but things went awry. Kyle Hendricks got the start and had one of the ugly, unfortunate showings that defined his final season with the team. After six innings, Chicago was in a 10-3 hole, and it looked like all hope was lost for the series finale. Bethancourt's final three at-bats played an instrumental part in Chicago's comeback win.

Christian Bethancourt stepped up to the plate in the top of the seventh with a man on first and no one out. He launched a 431-foot home run to center field, to cut the Pittsburgh lead down to 10-5. The Cubs were unable to score anymore that inning, though, despite getting a man in scoring position with less than two outs.

Bethancourt came up again in the top of the eighth inning with two men on and one out. He smoked a double down the left-field line, and both runners came home. Bethancourt's second extra-base hit in two innings trimmed Pittsburgh's lead to 10-7. Bethancourt would come around to score on Ian Happ's RBI single, and the Cubs would make it 10-8 headed to the ninth inning.

In the top of the ninth, the Cubs scratched across a run between two fielders' choices and some frantic at-bats. With two outs and the bases loaded, that set the stage for Bethancourt to come to the plate. The veteran catcher delivered once again, with a single through the left side to bring home two runs and give the Cubs an 11-10 lead. That gave Bethancourt his sixth and seventh RBIs of the day; Chicago went on to win 14-10.

The seven RBIs for Bethancourt made him the sixth Chicago Cubs catcher to have at least that many in a single game. While it would've been a great opening to a Cubs 2024 World Series video, Bethancourt's historic game was all for naught, as it did not fuel a sufficiently serious late-season run to propel Chicago into the postseason. Bethancourt has since become a free agent, but we will always have the memory of that fun Wednesday game in Pittsburgh.

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