David Bote knew he hit it well. But on this day, that didn’t mean much.
Strong winds off the lake made it seem like a home run at Wrigley Field would be impossible. Every fly ball was at least a bit of an adventure. So Bote sprinted out of the batter’s box and didn’t realize the low-trajectory hit off Reds rookie Vladimir Gutierrez — in his big-league debut — had cut through the wind and dropped into the basket in the left-field corner for his fifth home run of the season. It made the difference in a 1-0 victory over the Reds.