BCBer cubbiefanTN posted this comment in reply to one that I made in the recap of the Cubs' 6-5 victory Thursday, a victory achieved on a dropped popup:

Related to walkoffs.

In 2016, 8/3 Cubs won via walkoff 5-4 against the Miami Marlins. The following game Friday 8/5 Dexter Fowler led off at Oakland with a HR.

Curious if there’s ever been a run scored in consecutive at bats across two games. Seems pretty rare.

Little did I know where looking into this question would lead!

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ROWS, ROWS, ROWS OF DATA

I combined the data from spreadsheets that I maintain which contain details of all the Cubs' walk-off plays and leadoff home runs since 1901.

Then I sorted the resulting 926 rows by date and checked for dates that were separated by 1 or 2 days.

Whenever rows were separated by 2 days, I checked to see if the Cubs played on the date in between.

Ultimately, I found exactly ONE instance of a walk-off win in one game, followed by a leadoff homer in the next.

It wasn't the games in 2016 cited by cubbiefanTN!

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WHAT IS A WALK-OFF?

Fowler's homer at Oakland on Aug. 5 was in the data.

But final play of the Aug. 3 win over the Marlins was not.

Why not?

Because of how the Cubs won the game.

...

They trailed, 4-2, when Miguel Montero opened the bottom of the ninth with a double off new reliever AJ Ramos.

A single by Javier Baez and a walk to pinch hitter Matt Szczur loaded the bases.

Fowler worked the count full, then hit a fly to right on which Montero scored and the other runners advanced to second and third.

After Kris Bryant was called out on a 3-2 pitch, Anthony Rizzo was called intentionally.

That brought up Ben Zobrist, who walked on a 3-1 count, forcing home Baez with the tying run.

With Willson Contreras at the plate, Ramos got a strike, then threw a wild pitch that allowed Szczur to race home, ending the game.

...

It was a thrilling victory, but not a walk-off win, according to baseball-reference.com, my source for data since 1916.

It does not count wild pitches or passed balls that end games as walk-offs.

It counts dropped third strikes, which has happened 10 times, most recently in 2018, when the Padres beat the Diamondbacks in 10 innings, 4-3.

The Cubs lost 1 of the 9 earlier games, 4-3, to the Phillies, on Aug. 3, 2005, when Michael Wuertz's third strike eluded catcher Michael Barrett with 1 out and the bases loaded.

It does count catcher's interference, which has happened exactly once in MLB history, on Aug. 1, 1971, when the Dodgers beat the Reds, 4-3, in 11 innings.

...

The distinction appears to be based on whether the batter was credited with a plate appearance. He is, on a dropped third strike or catcher's interference. He is not, on a wild pitch or passed ball.

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ONE OF A KIND

If you think about it, a walk-off win followed by a first-batter home run can happen only when a team wins on the final play at home, then homers in its next game on the road.

In other words, in the last game of a home stand, then the first game of a road trip.

That reduces the number of possible pairs of games significantly.

And the only time it has happened came when the Cubs defeated the Pirates at Wrigley Field, on the afternoon of Wednesday, June 29, 1994, then played at the Astrodome in Houston the next night.

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THE WALK-OFF

The Cubs and Pirates had split the first 2 games of their series, with the Cubs winning the opener, 2-1, and the Pirates taking the rematch, 6-5.

In the rubber game, the Cubs grabbed a 3-0 lead in the third inning. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with 1 out, then Eddie Zambrano singled home 2 runs.

On the first pitch to Mark Parent, Glenallen Hill stole third. Three pitches later, he scored when Parent grounded out.

Hill slammed a 2-out solo homer in the fifth, making the score 4-0, and it was still 4-0 after 6 innings, as Cubs starter Anthony Young had held the Pirates to 2 hits -- by the second and third batters of the game!

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Young had been lifted for a pinch hitter with 2 out in the bottom of the sixth. His replacement, Dan Plesac, lasted all of 3 batters: walk, single, home run.

Jose Bautista took over and got a strikeout, then yielded a single. Both the runner and batter were safe on a grounder to short, after which another single drove home the tying run.

The runner who had been on first was thrown out at third on the play, and the next batter grounded out, ending the inning.

With 1 out in the eighth, Bautista yielded back-to-back singles, putting runners on the corners. A sacrifice fly followed, putting the Pirates on top, 5-4.

...

The Cubs went down in order in their half of the inning, with the final 2 outs coming against a new reliever, Ravelo Manzanillo.

It was a different story in the ninth.

Rey Sanchez doubled and was bunted to third. He remained there as Manzanillo walked Shawon Dunston and Mark Grace, both on 5 pitches.

Mark Dewey was brought in to face Sammy Sosa and struck him out on 3 pitches.

Hill, the Cub' last hope, worked the count to 2-2, then lined a ball to the gap in left-center that scored Sanchez and Dunston, securing a 6-5 victory.

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THE LEADOFF HOMER

Dunston had moved to the top of the Cubs' order on June 19. That day, at San Francisco, he homered on the first pitch he saw, then homered again leading off the fifth inning.

He had gone 2 for 4 in the win over the Pirates, giving him a slash line in 8 games leading off of .387/.424/.677.

At Houston, on June 30, he got ahead of pitcher Pete Harnisch, 2-1, then homered to deep left field.

Hill hit a solo homer in the fourth to double the Cubs' lead. But the Astros scored once in the bottom of the inning, then moved in front, 4-2, on a 3-run homer by Luis Gonzalez off Kevin Foster in the sixth.

The final scored was 5-3.

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The Cubs' first batter of the game has homered 58 times since that day, most recently by Rafael Ortega at Washington on Aug. 1.

None of the homers have come immediately after a walk-off win.

In the entire Modern Era, the Cubs have had 103 first-batter home runs. They have had 824 walk-off victories.

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WALK-OFF, THEN HOMER AT HOME

Five times, the Cubs have walked off a game, then their first batter homered in the bottom of the first inning of the next game.

They never performed that feat until 1973.

On July 1, the Cubs lost Game 1 of a Sunday doubleheader to the Mets, 6-5, and trailed, 5-3, going to the bottom of the ninth of Game 2.

Jose Cardenal led off with a single and went to third on a single by Ron Santo. But when Cardenal tried to score on a grounder to third, he was thrown out.

Paul Popovich flied to right, leaving runners at first and second with 2 out.

Randy Hundley then launched a pitch by Tug McGraw far over the wall in left field to win the game, 6-5.

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The Cubs were idle on Monday. On Tuesday, they hosted the Phillies, and Rick Monday began the Cubs' first with a homer off Jim Lonborg.

The Phillies had scored twice in the top of the first on a homer by Greg Luzinski. They led, 7-1, when Monday homered again in the third, and coasted to an 8-3 win.

...

Here are the 4 later pairs of games in which the Cubs followed a walk-off win with a homer leading off the bottom of the first:

June 24-25, 1976

The Cubs beat the Pirates, 2-1, when Jerry Morales homered with 1 out in the 13th.

The next day, Rick Monday homered against the Mets. He did it the following day, too. The Cubs lost both games, 7-4 and 10-2.

June 28-29, 1983

With the score tied at 7, Leon Durham singled to open the 11th inning, then came home a single by Keith Moreland and an error by the Pirates' second baseman.

The next day, Mel Hall homered to start the Cubs toward a 5-0 victory in which Dick Ruthven scattered 7 hits, walked none and struck out 4.

Sept. 14-15, 1991

The Cubs trailed the Expos, 5-0, until Andre Dawson hit a 3-run homer in the sixth. They added a run in the eighth and tied the game on Chico Walker's 1-out RBI single in the ninth.

Doug Dascenzo singled on the first pitch of the 10th. Hector Villanueva homered on the second, completing the 7-5 comeback triumph.

The next day, Walker homered in the bottom of the first. The Cubs fell behind, 4-1, then regained a 5-4 lead on 2-run homers in the third by Walker and Dawson, only to lose, 6-5, in 10 innings.

June 29-30, 2005

Todd Hollandsworth singled home the Cubs' first run against the Brewers in the second inning. Jeromy Burnitz homered for their next run, in the fourth.

In the ninth, with the score knotted at 2, Burnitz walked, went to second on a 1-out single by Todd Walker and scored the winning run on a single by Hollandsworth.

The next day, the Cubs already were down by 2 runs when Jerry Hairston led off the first with a homer. The Cubs rallied from a 5-1 deficit to tie the game, but eventually lost, 10-6.

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FIRST-BATTER HOMER AT HOME, THEN WALK-OFF

The Cubs have played 5 games in which their first batter homered in the bottom of the first, then they posted a walk-off win.

The first, on June 10, 1956, is the only 1 of the 5 in which the same batter was responsible for both.

Eddie Miksis began Game 1 of a Sunday doubleheader with a homer. Pete Whisenant opened the 11th with a double, stole third with 1 out and trotted home on a 2-out single by Miksis.

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Here are the 4 other such games:

July 27, 1961

Al Heist homered in the first.

With the Cubs behind, 2-1, Ron Santo singled off Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson to start the ninth. George Altman followed with a ground-rule double and Billy Williams was walked intentionally.

Gibson then walked Sammy Taylor, to tie the game -- and Bob Will, to end it.

April 22, 1980

The Cardinals scored twice in the top of the first before Ivan de Jesus hit a homer leading off the bottom.

Both teams also scored in both halves of the second and third. The Cardinals chalked up 5 runs in the fourth to take an 11-6 lead and added another run in the fifth.

But the Cubs tallied 3 runs in their fifth, 2 in the seventh and tied the score at 12 on a solo homer by Barry Foote in the eighth.

Foote the ended the amazing comeback by blasting a 2-out grand slam in the ninth.

May 9, 2004

Damian Jackson's leadoff homer against the Rockies tied the score at 1.

It was 3-3 after 9 innings and 4-4 after 10, thanks to a 2-out solo shot by Aramis Ramirez.

Derrek Lee singled to start the 13th and was bunted to second. An intentional walk, another bunt and another intentional walk loaded the bases for Corey Patterson, whose first-pitch single won the game.

May 26, 2015

Dexter Fowler's first-inning drive produced the only run until the Nationals got a leadoff homer in the seventh. They went ahead on a solo homer in the top of the eighth. Kris Bryant homered leading off the bottom.

With 1 out in the ninth, Chris Coghlan singled. He was forced out on a grounder by pinch-hitter Jonathan Herrera, but the shortstop threw wildly trying to make a double play, allowing Herrera to reach second.

He scored moments later, when Addison Russell smacked a double to deep right-center.

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The Cubs' first batter in the bottom of the first has homered 12 times since then, for a total of 108 times since 1901.

The most recent was Jason Heyward, who did it on Aug. 4, 2019, against the Brewers. The Cubs won that game, 7-2.