Willson Contreras’ homer in 15th gives Cubs third walk-off of week

It was cold, wet and gloomy at Wrigley Field, but that didn’t stop the Cubs and Brewers from playing a marathon game Saturday.

For the smattering of Cubs fans that stuck out the 49-degree, rain-soaked, five-hour affair, this one was worth the wait.

Willson Contreras launched Burch Smith’s 1-2 pitch into the left-field bleachers to lift the Cubs to a 2-1 victory in 15 innings. It was the third walk-off win of the homestand and gave the Cubs sole possession of first place in the National League Central.

“He got me to two strikes really quick.” Contreras said. “I stepped back and tried to remind myself to battle. Just tried to foul off pitches and see if I can hit a blooper. That’s what I told myself. And the last pitch was a changeup a little bit down in the zone, and I was able to put the barrel below the ball.”

Contreras’ game-winning homer was the first walk-off hit of his -career. The last Cub to hit a walk-off homer in the 15th inning or later was Sammy Sosa in 2003.

Contreras has gotten off to a red-hot start this season. He’s hitting .315 with 10 homers, 23 RBI and a .640 slugging percentage that ranks third in the National League.

While Contreras might be the hero of this win for bringing the game to an end, Cole Hamels and the bullpen did all the heavy lifting.

Cubs pitchers gave up just four hits and helped overcome an offense that went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left 14 runners on base.

Hamels had his fifth quality start, going seven strong innings with five strikeouts. He gave up a solo home run to Hernan Perez in the fifth.

“All year we’re going to be battling with these guys and the Cardinals,” Hamels said. “So to be able to go out there and get a win after 15 innings of play, I think it does some pretty good justice and puts it in our favor a little bit more, because those are big wins.”

The bullpen was just as good, giving up one hit and five walks in eight innings. The Cubs used everyone in their bullpen except Mike Montgomery, who threw five innings Thursday.

Tyler Chatwood, who was the last Cubs pitcher available, threw 68 pitches in the final four innings. He gave up no hits, walked three and struck out seven in the longest relief outing of his career.

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“You see what he’s able to do,” Hamels said. “He can rack up the strikeouts pretty quickly, and the zeroes he’s able to put up at a moment’s notice. Because you’re not put in good positions when you’re coming in late to a game, you can’t afford to give up runs, and he’s answering the call.”

Manager Joe Maddon said Chatwood had one inning left in him, after which he would have been forced to use backup catcher Taylor Davis on the mound.

“They’re a very good team,” Chatwood said, “so I think anytime you can keep them to singles, and Cole had a bunch of double plays. Anytime you do that, you’re going to have success.”

The Cubs and Brewers hit into a combined 10 double plays, with seven of those coming in the first nine innings. Hamels forced double-play groundouts in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings.

The Cubs scored their first run after a heads-up baserunning play by David Bote and third-base coach Will Venable in the fifth inning. With two outs and Hamels waiting on deck, Albert Almora doubled to right field, and Bote came around to score from first with a nifty head-first slide to avoid the tag.

“He knew who was on deck, he knew the outs situation, he knew everything about it,” Maddon said of Venable, who is filling in for Brian Butterfield. “Bote had it in his head also. That was absolutely the right thing to do, and I know Butter is very proud of the whole moment.”