Cubs stay loose against Cardinals, even NLDS at one game apiece
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Version 0 of 1. ST. LOUIS — The burden of history and the desperation of the present may have unsettled a fan or two Saturday afternoon on the North Side of Chicago. The pressure of 1908 and the ruggedness of the St. Louis Cardinals may have impelled them to guzzle Old Styles less for catching a buzz than quelling nerves. The Cubs always lose this time of year, the Cardinals always win, and it was happening again. “It’s always the prerogative of a fan to worry,” Cubs Manager Joe Maddon said. “I absolutely believe in that. That’s what barrooms are for.” That is not, in Maddon’s doctrine, what clubhouses are for. Maybe a different vintage of Cubs would tighten. Not this one. “I don’t vibrate at that frequency,” Maddon said. And so the Cubs arrived Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium and discovered Maddon had made batting practice optional. Pregame, the sun-splashed diamond remained void of Cubs hitters. Any swings happened in the cage down the tunnel from the dugout. Batting practice when you’re two losses from winter? Let someone else worry. Taking aim at a 107-year-old drought requires audacity, and the Cubs showed some in their 6-3 victory in Game 2 of the National League Division Series. The rivals are now even in the series at 1 and remain starkly different in approach. Three hours before first pitch, Cardinals players trickled from the first base dugout and lined up at infield positions for orderly groundball practice. Their devotion to preparation could not account for a pitcher standing flat-footed in the infield grass and throwing their opponent back into the series. The Cardinals’ vaunted fundamentals disintegrated Saturday afternoon in the second inning, when starting pitcher Jaime Garcia botched a sacrifice bunt roughly 16 different ways and the Cubs scored three times on plays that did not include a ball exiting the infield. They added another pair of runs on Jorge Soler’s mammoth two-run homer off Garcia, one of four times Soler reached after Maddon inserted him in right field for Kyle Schwarber. The blast provided a large enough cushion for the Cubs to withstand the three solo home runs the Cardinals smashed off starter Kyle Hendricks. It also validated Maddon’s order to take pregame off. “You go out there and take batting practice for 20 minutes, you’re thinking about your hands and your swing,” catcher David Ross said. “Guys who aren’t swinging well are getting frustrated. “We’re allowed to do whatever we want within reason. Don’t break the law or anything. Joe lets us do whatever the heck we want in here. He doesn’t judge us. He lets young guys be themselves. If anything, he takes a lot off our plate.” The series will restart Monday at Wrigley Field, whose ivied walls will make their first postseason appearance since 2008. The Cubs now possess both home-field advantage and the right arm of Game 3 starter Jake Arrieta, who has gone 12-0 with a 0.39 ERA in his last 13 starts, including the shutout he tossed in the wild-card play-in game. The Cardinals, meanwhile, used Game 4 starter Lance Lynn for an inning after Garcia left after two innings with a stomach virus and may change their rotation, with the possibility of bringing back Game 1 hero John Lackey, Manager Mike Matheny said. Counting out the Cardinals in October is folly, but they are now climbing uphill. “It is hard to watch a club that’s played so well defensively, to see a couple things that are kind of uncharacteristic for us,” Matheny said. They can only blame their own stunning sloppiness. Matt Carpenter staked them to an immediate lead with a leadoff homer, giving the Cubs a deficit to confront next to the fresh memories of getting shut out in Game 1. And then in the second, all hell broke loose. Austin Jackson rolled a potential double play to shortstop, but second baseman Kolten Wong lost his grip on the ball and threw wildly, pushing Jackson to second. Jackson stole third base off Yadier Molina, and when Miguel Montero walked to put runners on the corners with one out, it seemed an inopportune moment for Maddon to have batted his pitcher eighth. The Cubs, though, had readied for the situation. Last weekend in Milwaukee, they introduced a new practice routine. All year, Cubs pitchers struggled to lay down sacrifices. “I don’t think we had one until June,” Ross said. “We were high-fiving in the dugout when it finally happened.” In preparation for October, pitchers spent extra time practicing bunts, with pitching coach Chris Bosio rifling balls at them to mimic game-like velocity. Hendricks deadened a bunt toward first base but too close to the mound. Jackson bolted home, seemingly a case of ill-advised aggression. Garcia could have flipped the ball home in plenty of time. Instead, Garcia spun toward first. Realizing his mistake, Garcia twisted and glanced at Jackson crossing the plate. Having corkscrewed his feet in awkward position, Garcia turned back toward first and flung the ball with a stilted whip of his arm. The ball bounded into foul territory and deflected into shallow right field. The Cardinals had gifted the Cubs both a run and a rally. “Off-balance throws typically end up in the outfield,” Matheny said. Using the pitcher to sacrifice bordered on necessity, but the Cubs typically deplore bunting. They converted the second-fewest sacrifices in the league. With runners on second and third, though, Maddon went against type. Sensing a chance to score a run and shakiness on the mound, he signaled for Addison Russell to squeeze. “Everything has to be set up properly for that,” Maddon said. “It just was.” Russell laid down a bunt up the first base line — “perfect,” Maddon said — that plated Montero and gave the Cubs their first lead of the series. Dexter Fowler’s chopper over the mound added another run. The Cubs had scored three runs without hitting a ball into the outfield. Soler damn near hit one off the Arch. After he clobbered a hanging slider, the massive gold chain around his neck bounced as he trotted around the bases. The Cardinals tend not to don jewelry that resembles a bronzed fan belt, a superficial statement about their approach. The Cubs have a different style. On Sunday morning, they will work out back at home, in a manner all their own. “We’re going to have some breakfast at Wrigley, enjoy our optional batting practice, watch some NFL football on the big screen,” Maddon said. “And then get ready for the next game.” |