Javy Baez had awesome message for Yu Darvish before clutch home run

Yu Darvish has not pitched all that well this year, and he felt particularly bad about his latest outing after getting knocked around for four innings and putting his teammates in an early hole. Fortunately for Darvish, a very determined Javier Baez bailed him out.

The Cubs battled back from a 5-1 deficit against the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday to tie the game at 5-5 in the fifth. Darvish was pulled after walking the lead-off man that inning, and he apologized to Baez in the batting cage for letting the team down. Darvish said Baez told him, “I’ve got your back.”

After Darvish exited Saturday’s game, he saw Baez in batting cage and apologized for letting the team down.

Yu: “I felt so bad, because they worked hard to come back. He said, ‘Don’t worry. I’ve got your back.’”

Baez then it game-deciding homer in 8th.

Yu: “Wow. What a story.”

— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) May 5, 2019

Baez wasn’t kidding. He belted a solo home run in the eighth inning to give Chicago a 6-5 lead, and it proved to be the game-winner. The homer also helped the surging Cubs win their sixth straight.

Darvish is now 2-3 on the year with a 5.79 ERA, which is surprising considering the way he described his game back in spring training. Thanks to Baez and his confidence, the right-hander got away with another rough start on Saturday.