The Rundown: Kyle Schwarber Hits Game-Tying and Game-Winning HR, Baez Could Be Back at Iowa Next Week, Montero Out At Least 2 Weeks

Through eight innings of last night’s game, I did a lot of throwing things around my living room out of frustration.

But then Kyle Schwarber happened.

With no outs and a man at first, and down by two in the top of the 9th, Schwarber put together possibly the best Cubs at-bat of the season. He went down 0-2 before working the count full and fowling off a bunch of pitches.

Then he launched a bomb into the right-field seats.

The lousy Cubs offense we’ve seen of late returned for another four innings until Schwarber came up in the top of the 13th. And he did it again — this time a solo shot to give the Cubs a one-run lead, and the Cubs went on to win 5-4.

This is a game we’re going to remember for a long time. It has been a season with many great comeback wins, but this game was definitely one of the best — if not the best.

Good news on Baez

Cubs Director of Player Development Jaron Madison has told Tommy Birch that Javier Baez will start rehab games in Arizona on Thursday and could be back in Iowa “in a little over a week.”

This is great news, as we recently heard an estimate from Iowa Cubs manager Marty Pevey that Baez would return to action in 2-3 weeks.

Baez hasn’t played since June 7 due to a broken finger. Yesterday I mentioned it would be nice to have him as a bench option going forward, but with the way Starlin Castro has been swinging the bat this season, maybe Baez can be inserted as an everyday player.

Other notes

* LHP Zac Rosscup is now rehabbing in Double-A Tennessee. He picked up a save yesterday in scoreless inning of work, striking out the side. This is nice to hear, but Rosscup doesn’t have a spot on the Cubs roster right now. I imagine he’ll move on to Triple-A soon and provide depth.

* Catcher Miguel Montero has a confirmed left thumb sprain and will rest for two weeks before having another evaluation, according to Mark Gonzales. With the emergence of Kyle Schwarber it may be easy to forget about Montero, but he is still a vital part of the team. It’ll be interesting to see how the playing time is handled when Montero returns, but we’ll worry about that when the time comes.

* According to Jim Bowden (Insider), the Dodgers and Cubs are the favorites to pull off a trade for Phillies LHP Cole Hamels. I still don’t see the Cubs making a big trade like this, but we know the Cubs like Hamels and he’d be under control past this year — making him a more likely trade target than someone like Johnny Cueto or David Price.