The Cubs got quite the scare with one of their stars on Tuesday, but the news didn't turn out to be awful. Plus, they got some funny history out of the situation. 

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo has been used in quirky ways this season, namely switching out gloves and playing "second base" during certain bunt situations by the opposition. In those situations, though, he's stationed near the pitcher's mound on the infield grass, mostly due to Jon Lester's issues at throwing to first base. 

Tuesday night, however, he actually played third base for a full inning due to the game circumstances. 

The Cubs had trailed 3-0, tied it 3-3 and then trailed 6-3 heading into the top of the sixth. They would get one run back in sixth before taking the lead with four in the seventh. During the course of the comeback, the Cubs ended up burning through much of their bench. 

By the time third baseman Kris Bryant was hit in the left hand/wrist area in the top of the ninth, the Cubs had a 13-6 lead. Bryant would stay in the game to run the bases, but not take the field for the bottom of the ninth. 

Obviously, this is a scary thing for the Cubs. Bryant isn't likely to win MVP again this year, but he's hitting .287/.400/.529 with 27 doubles, four triples, 23 homers and is -- along with Rizzo -- one of the main offensive cogs for a first-place team. He's played good defense at third base as well. Point blank, the Cubs can't lose him for a significant amount of time and expect to play too well. 

When Bryant left the game, the only player left on Maddon's bench was backup catcher Rene Rivera. Cubs manager Joe Maddon would bump catcher Alex Avila to first base for Rivera and then thow Rizzo across the diamond to take over for Bryant. 

Rizzo became the first left-handed throwing third baseman in the majors since July 2, 1997, when Mario Valdez of the White Sox played at the hot corner. 

Here's a look at the big man having a little fun: 

Now, some were speculating that Maddon was attempting to show up the Reds, possibly because Bryant and Rizzo were both hit by pitches in the top of the ninth. 

Given the players in the field (Avila, Rizzo, Ben Zobrist, Javier Baez, Jason Heyward, Ian Happ and Kyle Schwarber) and only Rivera being left on the bench, here were Maddon's legitimate options: 

  1. Play Rizzo at third.
  2. Bump center fielder Happ to second base, moving Zobrist to third base. That would mean shifting Heyward to center and putting Rizzo in right field. Keep in mind that Schwarber was playing left field, meaning that would have left a right fielder in center flanked by Schwarber and Rizzo.  
  3. Playing a pitcher in the field. 

An argument can be made for options one or two. 

As for Bryant: 

That's the second bullet the Cubs appear to have dodged with Bryant in the second half. Remember, he injured his pinky when sliding into a base in Atlanta in mid-July and only missed a few days. 

With the win, the Cubs move to 10 games over .500 for the first time all season. They remain in first place in the NL Central. 

On Bryant, stay tuned to see how he's able to swing the bat the next few days. For now, it sounds like great news all around for the Cubs.