Two pitches for eternity: Mike Montgomery is unlikely Game 7 stopper for Cubs

CLEVELAND — Baseball has a way of finding guys like Mike Montgomery, a way of putting them in the biggest possible situation and saying “Hey, you, unlikely player, here’s your moment.”

If we told you everything for the Chicago Cubs would come down to a relief pitcher they acquired midway through the season, who they needed to make the right pitches and notch a save or else this whole winning-the-World Series thing wasn’t going to happen, if we told you that, you’d nod your head and say “Yeah, Aroldis Chapman.”

No, Mike Montgomery.

Never heard of him? Not surprising. He’s a 27-year-old who had been involved in more trades (three) than he had career saves (zero). The Cubs got him in a July deal involving three other guys you never heard of. And when Chapman was running on fumes and Carl Edwards Jr. needed help in the 10th, the Cubs turned to Montgomery.

His job was simple: Get one out. Just one. Make that happen and the Cubs would win their first World Series in 108 years. It was the 10th inning, the Cubs had an 8-7 lead and the Cleveland Indians had the tying run on base with two outs.

Montgomery’s first pitch was a called strike, a 73-mph curveball to Michael Martinez. The next produced a slow grounder to the left side. Kris Bryant swooped in from third base, fielded the ball with a big smile and threw it over to Anthony Rizzo at first. They had done it. It was over. Heck of a time to throw two pitches and get your first career save.

“I don’t even remember what I did,” Montgomery said. “I just knew the game was over. We had won and we were world champs.”

And, in those highlights that are going to be shown for years and years to come, of the Cubs finally breaking their curse, Montgomery will be the one on the mound for the final out.

“It’s an incredible feeling,” Montgomery said. “You can’t replicate it anywhere else. This team deserves it. This city deserves it.”

What makes Montgomery even more of an unlikely stopper in this moment? He was quite close to not even being in MLB this season. After a rough 2015, he was seriously thinking about playing in Japan.

“I was leaning toward it,” he said. “I sat back, gave it a few days and told myself, ‘I’m gonna take my chances here. I’m gonna come in here the best I’ve ever been’ and that’s paid off.

“I’ve been through a lot in my career to be a part of this.”

He made the Mariners roster out of spring training and pitched well for them in 32 games. After the trade to Chicago, he pitched in 17 games as a starter and reliever. The Cubs used him quite a bit in the postseason, calling him out of the bullpen in 11 games. He had a 3.14 ERA in those times.

None of those numbers matter too much now. All that matters is that he threw two pitches and got the one out he needed — the final out, the out that will be remembered on the North Side forever.

If someone had told Montgomery way back in spring training this is where his season would end, it would seem like lunacy. Getting the final out of the World Series for the Cubs?!

“I’d tell ‘em to get lost,” Montgomery said. “No way I would believe that.”

It’s crazy, isn’t it? The way baseball has a find of finding guys like Mike Montgomery.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz