The Cubs wanted to avoid an IL stint with Nico Hoerner and his ailing hamstring, opting to play a man down for 6 days than be without him for 10 or more.

He made the Cubs’ patience pay off Tuesday night — and got a the newest clubhouse tradition bestowed upon him in the process. 

In the bottom of the 10th inning, Hoerner hit a high chopper to the right side that scored Cody Bellinger for a 4-3 win over the Braves in the series opener at Wrigley Field. After the game, Hoerner had a “W” flag on his chair in the Cubs clubhouse, the newest tradition that was started by reliever Héctor Neris. The flag goes to the player or pitcher of the game.

“Neris has been an awesome clubhouse guy this year,” Hoerner said. “He’s been part of a lot of great teams and brings a lot of infections energy and has kinda brought that with him.” 

The Cubs had their middle infield tandem return Tuesday night, as Dansby Swanson was activated off the 10-day IL prior to the game. The Cubs didn’t necessarily bop their way to a win with the wind blowing out Tuesday night, but their lineup worked starter Charlie Morton, chasing him after 5 innings and getting into a beleaguered Braves bullpen that had to cover 18 innings Monday as they played a doubleheader against San Diego.

Their patience was rewarded with a much-need win after dropping 3-of-4 against Pittsburgh over the weekend.

Swanson had a successful return, too, picking up a double and single in his first two at-bats while hitting 8th in the Cubs order. 

“Dansby had a couple of nice at-bats, for sure and got some thing started for us,” manager Craig Counsell said. 

The Cubs bullpen was lights out Tuesday, working 5.1 innings of shutout ball, striking out 6 batters and allowing 1 hit and 0 walks. Luke Little picked up the win after keeping the Braves off the board in the top of the 10th despite the free runner at second base to open the inning.

“Just overall, our bullpen did a heck of a job,” Counsell said. “Mark Leiter, especially getting out of that [7th inning] jam and pitching great — [Hayden Wesneski], Hector, [too]. Luke Little came in against some tough hitters and in a tough spot and came back 3-0 against [slugger Matt] Olson and made some big pitches.”