Matt Szczur's bat and underwear, yes, underwear have helped get the Cubs' offense going

You wouldn't think that a Cubs team that won an MLB-best 103 games and ran away with the NL Central would need a good-luck charm, but turns out the Cubs do -- probably to counteract that whole billy goat curse. But rather than a rabbit's foot or a horseshoe or even a a forbidden monkey's paw that grants wishes at a terrible cost, the Cubs have outfielder Matt Szczur .

Even though the outfielder didn't make the NLCS roster for the team, it was his bat that Anthony Rizzo grabbed on Wednesday's Game 4 that helped him break out of his slump with this massive dinger:

That continued in the Cubs' 8-4 win during Thursday's Game 5 when Rizzo hit an RBI double to start the scoring in the top of the first inning, extending his streak to four consecutive at-bats with a hit since swapping out his lumber.

Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag. Click here to view original GIF

The legend of Szczur doesn't end there, though. Looking for even more of an edge, it was revealed during an in-game interview in Game 5 that shortstop Addison Russell was wearing the outfielder's underwear as he went 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs in Game 4. It snapped a four-game hitless streak and was his first extra-base hit of the postseason.

He also hit another big two-run dinger and single in Game 5, while, yep, still wearing Szczur's leggings:

Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag. Click here to view original GIF

"It's good karma going all around," Szczur said after Game 5. "We'll let it ride for now and hopefully everything works out for us."

Anthony Rizzo used Matt Sczcur's bat: broke out of slump. Addison Russell wore Matt Sczcur's underwear: broke out of slump. Thanks Matt. — Cubs Live (@Cubs_Live) October 21, 2016