10 Iconic Cubs Games to Watch on YouTube in Absence of Live Baseball
With Major League Baseball competition not likely to begin until late May at the earliest thanks to public health advisories recommending bans on large-scale public gatherings, baseball fans need to find ways to get their fix. That means heading to YouTube, where MLB has uploaded full games from 2009-18 to its official channel. You may recall that games from the 2017 season were the source of footage analyzed by fans looking to validate the accuracy of reports about the Astros’ cheating scheme.
To search for a specific game, visit MLB’s YouTube channel and use the following terms: XXX (road team letter code) at YYY (home team letter code) M, DD, YYYY. For example, to find Game 6 of the 2016 World Series, you would type: CHN at CLE November 2, 2016.
If you’re among those staying in and practicing recommended social distancing measures, here are some of the best Cubs games from the last few years to relive through YouTube.
1. Cubs at Dodgers – August 30, 2015
WP: Jake Arrieta
LP: Alex Wood
Arrieta tossed his first career no-hitter as part of a Cy Young campaign in 2015. You may not remember that the Dodgers disputed the validity of the no-no, but you won’t be surprised that the relevant quote came from Adrián González.
WP: Arrieta
LP: Gerrit Cole
The Cubs advanced to the NLDS thanks to a complete-game shutout by Arrieta. Kyle Schwarber added a moonshot off of Gerrit Cole in the 3rd inning.
WP: Trevor Cahill
LP: Kevin Siegrist
S: Héctor Rondón
The Cubs eliminated the heavily favored Cardinals to advance to the National League Championship Series.
4. Cubs at Reds – April 21, 2016
WP: Arrieta
LP: Brandon Finnegan
Arrieta threw his second career no-hitter and the Cubs pounded the Reds, hitting five bombs.
5. Mariners at Cubs – July 31, 2016
WP: Rondón
LP: Cody Martin
This is one of my favorite regular season victories of the last few years because it demonstrated why the 2016 Cubs were destined for greatness. The Cubs mounted a late-game comeback to force extra innings and Jon Lester squeezed Jason Heyward home to walk off Seattle in the bottom of the 12th.
WP: Brian Duensing
LP: Max Scherzer
The Cubs outlasted the Nationals 9-8 in a marathon nail-biter that used a total of 14 pitchers, scoring four runs against Scherzer in a relief appearance during a wild 5th inning. Wade Davis had a seven-out save to nail down the victory, advancing the Cubs to their third straight NLCS appearance under Joe Maddon.
WP: Arrieta
LP: Trevor Bauer
The Cubs notched their first victory of the World Series behind a strong start from Arrieta.
WP: Lester
LP: Bauer
The Cubs began their comeback from a 3-1 series deficit after Kris Bryant hit a home run against Bauer in the 4th inning to tie the game and spark a Cubs rally en route to their second victory against Cleveland.
WP: Arrieta
LP: Josh Tomlin
The Cubs slugged their way to victory, forcing a decisive Game 7 on the road behind home runs from Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, and Anthony Rizzo.
WP: Aroldis Chapman
LP: Bryan Shaw
S: Mike Montgomery
People forget this one. Ben Zobrist was crowned World Series MVP thanks to his go-ahead RBI double during the rain-delayed 10th inning. Miguel Montero contributed the decisive RBI single.