Russell homered in Games 4, 5 wearing Szczur's underwear

Curse of the billy goat, meet Matt Szczur.

After his bat helped Anthony Rizzo break out of a horrid 2-for-26 slump in Game 4 with a solo home run, Szczur revealed in Game 5 that shortstop Addison Russell snapped his own hitless streak (1-24) by wearing Szczur's underwear.

The Cubs' superstitious ways didn't stop there. Rizzo led off Thursday's Game 5 with an RBI double, still using Szczur's lumber, while Russell hit a go-ahead home run in the sixth inning, his second blast in as many games since swapping undergarments.

Thanks in part to Szczur's unique contributions, Chicago has exploded for 18 runs in two games, including a combined 10 hits and eight RBIs from Russell and Rizzo.

"It's good karma going all around," Szczur told Carrie Muskat of MLB.com after the Cubs' Game 5 win over the Dodgers. "We'll let it ride for now and hopefully everything works out for us. It's just different ways to contribute and I'm trying to help the team, no matter what."

(Video courtesy: MLB.com)