Szczur Played Key Role in Rizzo's Home Run Wednesday

Chicago Cubs outfielder Matt Szczur isn’t on the team’s roster for the National League Championship Series, but that didn’t stop him from making a huge impact in Wednesday’s win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In his first two at-bats of the game, Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo struck out swinging against Dodgers starter Julio Urias, and it looked as though his playoff-long slump was going to continue unabated.

When he came to bat in the fifth inning, Rizzo didn’t have one of his bats in his hands. Instead, he had a black bat belonging to Szczur:

Rizzo made the most of the new lumber, smacking a solo home run to center field and then later adding a two-run single in the top of the sixth inning to emphatically break out of his slump and help lead the Cubs to a blowout victory over the Dodgers in Game 4 of the series.

“I hit well with his bat, so he has hits in it,” Rizzo told the media after the game. “Same size, just different model and different name, and it worked.”

Rizzo isn’t the only player on the Cubs that has borrowed Szczur’s bat this season, as Kris Bryant has also used them and hit well.

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“Anthony likes to use his bat here and there. I even used it at one point this year and I got a hit out of it,” Bryant said. “Any time you can take hits from other guys and they’re gonna give ‘em to you, you take ‘em.”

Rizzo and Bryant will hope that the good times keep rolling on Thursday as the Cubs and Dodgers do battle in a Game 5 that will determine which side will have a chance to clinch when the series shifts back to Wrigley Field for Game 6 on Saturday night.

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