One for the ages

 Science has yet to prove there's some atmospheric disturbance over Wrigley Field that makes crazy stuff happen, but science has a lot on its plate these days. Sooner or later the boys and girls in the lab coats will get around to it.

In the meantime, we have only circumstantial evidence to go on.

Like a young Kerry Wood striking out 20 Houston Astros one April afternoon.

Like the Philadelphia Phillies and your homestanding Chicago Cubs combining for 45 runs, 50 hits and 11 home runs in a 23-22 Phillies win on a breezy day in May.

Like ...

Well. Like the Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks doing whatever the hell that was yesterday.

The final box score tells us it was a 13-11 Cubs win, but that ain't the crazy part. The crazy part was what happened in the eighth inning.

When the D-Backs scored 10 runs in their half to erase a seemingly safe 7-1 lead for the home team.

And when the Cubs then scored six runs in their half to snatch back the lead and preserve the wildest W in the bigs so far this season, or perhaps in a whole bunch of seasons.

According to baseball's all-seeing record book, yesterday's insanity was only the seventh time in 125 years that a team has given up 10 or more runs in an inning and won. It was also only the fifth time a team has given up 10 or more runs and then scored six or more in the same inning.

So the Cubs have that going for them.

What they clearly don't have, according to a friend who's been a Cubs fan forever, is a bullpen that isn't human lighter fluid. 

Through the first seven innings yesterday, four Cubs pitchers yielded just one run on six hits and struck out eight D-Backs. Then came the firestarters: Across the last two innings, the Cubs pen surrendered 10 runs on nine hits -- two of them homers, including a grand slam -- and fanned just one batter.

It was so bad one of the Cubs relievers, Jordan Wicks, had an ERA of "infinity." Seriously. Go look it up.

Of course, the D-Backs bullpen was a tattoo parlor as well. Handed a four-run lead with just six outs remaining, Arizona relievers Bryce Jarvis and Joe Mantiply were launched into space, giving up six runs on seven hits, including those three dingers.

Final tally for the day: 23 combined runs, 33 combined hits, seven combined home runs, 15 combined extra-base hits. And another one for the ages from the Friendly Atmosphere Disturbance.

Craziness. Glorious craziness.