SAN DIEGO (AP) — Chicago Cubs first baseman Alfonso Rivas had quite the homecoming.
Playing against his hometown San Diego Padres for the first time, Rivas hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the eighth inning to lift the banged-up Cubs to a 7-5 victory on Wednesday.
Willson Contreras homered for the Cubs, who took two of three from the Padres after arriving in town with a season-high, five-game losing streak. Frank Schwindel hit a two-run double in Chicago’s four-run fourth.
Rivas, who grew up in Tijuana and Chula Vista, came up with the bases loaded and singled up the middle off Luis García (0-2). Rivas hit a two-run homer in Tuesday night’s 5-4 loss that bounced out of the glove of rookie center fielder Jose Azocar and went over the fence.
“We’re going through some tough patches as a team so coming here and taking the series from a pretty good club, it’s awesome,” Rivas said. “It feels good. I think we’ve turned the page, giving us confidence for the next series.”
Rivas said he left “a good amount” of tickets for every game.
“I had a lot of family and friends here supporting. That’s awesome,” he said.
Rivas was called up late last season, so it was the first time he played in San Diego as a major leaguer. If he was nervous at all, it didn’t show.
He said his approach on his go-ahead hit was “just stay calm. Wait for your pitch, a pitch in your zone, don’t really freak out. Have confidence. The approach that I have that’s going to pay off.”
Standing on first base, he felt “just the excitement after a big hit. The game’s going back and forth. Just the emotions that get the best of you,” Rivas said.
“He’s a great hitter,” Contreras said. “From day one that I met him I knew that he was going to be somebody special. His…
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