Craig Kimbrel’s Welcome Back to Wrigley Field Ruined By the Cubs

Craig Kimbrel was making his third appearance as a member of the Chicago White Sox on Friday in a game against the team that traded him to the South Side last week. Kimbrel entered the game against his former team with a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the 8th. The Cubs didn’t let him enjoy his return.

Kimbrel opened the inning by allowing a single to Matt Duffy. He followed that up by getting Ian Happ to fly out to left, but Frank Schwindel added a one-out single to center that moved Duffy to second. Greg Deichmann followed with a pop out to short and it looked as if Kimbrel would avoid the damage. Andrew Romine had other plans.

Kimbrel fell behind Romine 2-0, but a foul ball and a swinging strike on a 96 mph fastball evened the count. The eight-time All-Star closer then missed badly with another heater, putting the count at 3-2. He opted for a fastball again, this time low and in and Romine did this:

That wasn’t even a strike and Romine still launched it into the bleachers. Amazing. The Cubs trotted out a hilarious lineup on Friday and yet somehow they’re matching the vaunted White Sox, and managed to make the incredible dominant Kimbrel blink.