The Chicago Cubs, 9.5 games out from the NL Central lead and 6.0 games back from a wild card slot, need a major push to make a run at the 2024 postseason. Mike Tauchman's walk-off single on Thursday night over their division rival St. Louis Cardinals was a good start.
Tauchman's heroics put a cap on what was an awesome ninth inning for the Cubs. Coming in down 4-2, Cody Bellinger hit a home run with one out to bring the Cubs within one. Nico Hoerner then got on base, and Dansby Swanson drove him in to tie it, all with two outs. Then, Tauchman hit a single to end it.
TAUCHMAN WALKOFF! pic.twitter.com/c5tASNzcPW
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 2, 2024
An absolutely comical plummet in win probability for the Cards:
[W]heeee! pic.twitter.com/moK1yo9T01
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) August 2, 2024
Asked after the game what conclusion he draws from his walk-off, Tauchman made up a cool stat: Every time his wife goes to an OBGYN appointment, he hits a walk-off.
"My wife had a OBGYN appointment this morning. And she told me that the last walk-off was also, we had an appointment that morning. So I'm going to start taking her to the doctor," Tauchman joked. "We're going to get a lot of appointments in. So, uh, shoutout women's healthcare."
“Shoutout women’s health care.”
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) August 2, 2024
Mike Tauchman has hit a walk-off both times his wife has had an OBGYN appointment. pic.twitter.com/lmxnMeGmfS
"She OK'd me sharing it, too," Tauchman said.
While there's probably no causation between his wife's appointments and his propensity to hit walk-offs, the correlation is undeniable. Baseball players are endlessly superstitious, so good luck convincing Tauchman this didn't have an impact.
He hit a walk-off home run on June 5 against the White Sox in the crosstown rivalry, and last year snagged a would-have-been walk-off home run for the Cardinals in centerfield to end a game. He's clutch.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Cubs’ Mike Tauchman Credits Wife’s OBGYN for His Walk-Off Hit in Funny Moment.
