Moose Alert: Heyward Rights Lefty Woes, Walks Off Against Philly

The Highlights

• The Phillies (+122) led the Cubs 5-3 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
• On an 2-2 count with the bases loaded, lefty-averse Jason Heyward hit a grand slam against southpaw Adam Morgan.
• I just hope nobody reading this bet the Phillies +1.5.

While the majority of the sports world had their eyes on LeBron and the boys from Cleveland going down 3-0 in the NBA Finals, those who bet the Phillies-Cubs game watched an epic ending in Chicago. Well, epic if you bet the Cubs moneyline. Just a moose if you bet the Phils.

With the game tied 3-3 in the ninth inning, Dylan Cozens hit a two-run home run (the first of his career) to give Philly a 5-3 lead. He did it off Brandon Morrow, who previously had the longest homerless streak in the majors. I'm sure anyone who backed the Phillies moneyline (+122) let out a big Rafa Nadal "vamos!" in unison — as under 7.5 bettors spat at their tickets.

The Phillies sent Seranthony Dominguez and his 0.00 ERA out for his second inning of work to get the save. However, after two men reached, Phillies manager Gabe Kapler handed the ball over to lefty Adam Morgan in the ninth inning. And at this point, I doubt anyone invested in the Phillies felt particularly good about the situation, especially with the Wrigley crowd rocking.

Wouldn't ya know it, that decision would soon become tonight's moose.

With one out and two on, Morgan walked Ian Happ to load the bases. Then, the shifty Morgan evaded trouble, albeit briefly, by getting Ben Zobrist to ground into the scorekeeper's favorite (I know from experience): 1-2 fielder's choice. But he would never record the all-important third out for Phillies moneyline bettors.

Phillies backers might have had some hope when they saw Jason Heyward coming to the plate against the lefty Morgan, as J-Hey had been absolutely abysmal against left-handed pitching all year. The Cubs right fielder came into that at-bat hitting just .139 against LHP — without a single home run. However, that was all about to change.

On a 2-2 count, Heyward successfully executed the "childhood-backyard-yellow-Wiffle-ball-bat-dream," and took Morgan deep for a two-out, two-strike walk-off grand slam. (Say that three times fast!)

And while that, above, is quite a mouthful, we could explain this one rather succinctly, with just the one word: moose. Shake it off, Phillies phans. That's why they play 162. And at least you're not a Mets fan like me.