Levine: Bryant Homer That Defies Gravity Helps Cubs Win 13th 1-Run Game

By Bruce Levine--

CHCIAGO (CBS) -- The Cubs are often defying the odds by winning one-run ball games, and on Tuesday night, rookie Kris Bryant defied gravity with a home run off of the top of the new video board in left field that's 50 feet above the Wrigley Field bleachers.

With a 3-2 win over the Nationals that was sealed with rookie Addison Russell walk-off double, the Cubs improved to 13-10 in one-run games. Outstanding defense and gutty base-running kept the Cubs in the game with arguably the best team in the National League.

"Joe (Maddon) stresses the defense," the 21-year-old Russell said after a three-hit game that included a web gem at second base. "A lot of runs can score on errors; we have tried to cut down on them."

The Bryant bomb was difficult to detect going out into the left-center field bleachers. It was majestic shot that was hit like legendary slugger Dave Kingman did during his time with the North Siders back in the late 1970s.

"Everyone just stood up (in the dugout) just to see how far it would go," Russell said. "He hits balls, he hits them far. As a team we are used to seeing it. The whole world seeing it, it is just a cool feeling to have the world see what he has to offer."

The Cubs have built an impressive cache of talented power hitting young players. None will be more talked about than the 23-year-old Bryant, who worked an 0-2 count to 3-2 in the eighth inning before hitting the middle of the new video board in dead left-center field. MLB digital estimated the home run at 477 feet, while ESPN Stats & Info estimated it at 463 feet.

The game-tying home run by Bryant was just part of a special night for the Cubs, who have won the most one-run games in baseball this season.

"Yeah," was Bryant's first response when asked whether that was the longest ball he has ever hit.

"I have hit some good home runs in my short time on the earth. Yeah, that was a good one for me. There of course was a little wind blowing out, too."

The modest Bryant will now be in the longest home run at Wrigley Field conversation. Kingman once hit a ball down Kenmore that ended up on a porch three houses down the street. Glenallen Hill once hit a home run that landed on the roof of an apartment building straight down the left-field line and and was allegedly steroid-induced. Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell also hit homers that that went to the left and right of the scoreboard in the center field.

Sammy Sosa also had many long home runs at Wrigley. That included a number of prodigious shots into the highest level of the center-field bleachers. These days no one wants to give the former slugger much credit for anything.

For now, the story will be centered around Bryant, the kid who friends called "Silk " when he was growing up in Las Vegas.

"They called me that because I did things nonchalantly, kind of smooth," Bryant said. "That was the way I played the game."

Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.