Braves Blow 10-2 Lead vs. Cubs, Surrender 9 Runs in 8th-Inning Implosion

The Atlanta Braves appeared to be on their way to an easy victory at Wrigley Field on Saturday after jumping out to a 10-2 lead over the Chicago Cubs in the first three-and-a-half innings.

Then, they collapsed.

Atlanta took its eight-run cushion into the bottom of the sixth as Braves starting pitcher Sean Newcomb (5.1 innings, six hits, three runs and seven strikeouts) was in control. However, the southpaw ran his pitch count to 109 and had to be relieved.

Chicago roughed up Atlanta's bullpen, scoring 12 runs over the next three frames. That included an eighth inning in which the Cubs crossed the plate nine times...on just three hits. The Braves hit two batters, walked five (including three with the bases loaded) and allowed all nine runs with two outs.

The Cubs scored two runs on a wild pitch—plus a throwing error—to stretch their lead to four.

Here's how the comeback played out on the Cubs' Twitter account:

Just how unlikely was this 14-10 Cubs victory? FanGraphs' Craig Edwards provided a win-probability graph:

It's never over until the final out is recorded.