After walk-off, Montero wants ‘to finish as strong as possible’

CHICAGO — Last season, Miguel Montero started 90 games at catcher, only the second time in the last eight seasons that he didn’t top 100. With the arrival of Willson Contreras this year, Montero has started 58 games behind the plate. And he has handled the decrease in playing time like a pro.

Montero delivered a walk-off home run leading off the 10th inning on Friday to lift the Cubs to a 5-4 victory over the Brewers. It was his second extra-inning walk-off hit of the season — Montero also hit a walk-off RBI single on Aug. 29 against the Pirates in the 13th inning for an 8-7 win.

Montero is the lone Cub this season with multiple walk-off hits in extra innings. In 2015, Starlin Castro and Chris Denorfia had multiple walk-off game winners in extra innings.

“To have the consummate team player, Miguel Montero, who has handled this up-and-down year so, so well, to have him walk us off and launch the celebration was very apropos,” Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said after Friday’s win.

Montero enjoyed the moment.

“It’s amazing,” Montero said. “A great feeling. Obviously, it hasn’t been a great year for me, but it’s not about me, it’s about the team. Overall as a team, we’ve been having a good year, and we want to keep it up. You don’t want to fall behind. It’s been tough [for me] but it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. I’m trying to finish as strong as possible. It was a great feeling. It was one of the most …

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