BAEZ EXITS GAME AFTER SCARY COLLISION
Baez exits game after bruising eye in collision with Heyward one year after Schwarber was lost for season in outfield mishap
MILWAUKEE — Some people make a big deal about Cinco de Mayo or the Fourth of July.
The Cubs seem to have a thing for Siete de Abril, with lots of fireworks but nothing worth celebrating.
Exactly one year after the outfield collision that cost young slugger Kyle Schwarber his 2016 season, Cubs center fielder Jason Heyward and second baseman Javy Baez collided while chasing a popup to shallow center in the bottom of the sixth inning Friday night in Milwaukee, sending another chill through the organization as their flashy young infielder lay on the Miller Park turf.
Baez gave a thumbs- up from the ground as he waited for the trainer to reach him, but he was clearly shaken up. After the trainer checked his head, face and neck, Baez left the game, suffering no more than a bad bruise above his left eye.
“As soon as I turned around, I saw J- Hey coming at me,” Baez of the play, which — because of its literal impact and historical context — overshadowed the Cubs’ 2- 1 loss to the Brewers that was decided on Mike Montgomery’s bases- loaded wild pitch in the bottom of the 11th.
“That’s a really big man coming at me,” Baez said. “It was really scary.
“I was trying to feel my teeth [ after the hit], and after I felt my teeth, I was OK. I’ve got them. I’ve got all of them.”
For a moment, some held their breath, especially after having witnessed Schwarber’s collision with then- center fielder Dexter Fowler last April 7 in Arizona.
“It looked pretty violent,” shortstop Addison Russell said. “I’m just glad everyone’s OK.”
Preliminary tests quickly determined Baez didn’t have to enter MLB’s concussion protocol, and he said he’d be ready to play Saturday.
Schwarber’s knee was injured so severely that he required reconstructive surgery that sidelined him until he returned ahead of schedule to serve as designated hitter for the four road games of the World Series. Friday’s play suggested the Cubs might want to make April 7 a mandatory day off — or at least give their center fielders the red light when in the vicinity of a prized young first- round draft pick.
Until then, the story of the game looked to be the Cubs debut of Brett Anderson, the injury- prone left- hander signed over the winter to a one- year contract, with twothirds of the value tied up in workloadrelated bonuses.
The tying run scored on the play in which Heyward and Baez collided when neither was able to reach the bloop by Hernan Perez, which went for a two- out single that erased the Cubs’ 1- 0 lead. Perezwas the first batter of the game for reliever Justin Grimm, who took over for Anderson after a two- out single, a wild pitch and another single put runners at the corners. Until then, Anderson had allowed only three hits and a walk to take his slim lead two outs deep into the sixth.
Anderson admitted to some nerves in his first start for the defending World Series champions and said it was a mixed- feelings start for him — pitching well and being healthy, but winding up giving up the run in the sixth that allowed the Brewers to come back.
The game ended with Montgomery on the mound, pitching his third inning of the night. He allowed a leadoff single to Ryan Braun, a oneout walk to Jesus Aguilar and then hit pinch- hitter Jett Bandy with a 3- 2 pitch to load the bases. He quickly got ahead of Manny Pina 0- 2, then threw the wild pitch that sent Braun home. It was the Cubs’ second walkoff loss in their first four games.”
“I thought he pitched really well,” said manager Joe Maddon, who also lauded Anderson. “When you pitch that well, you expect to win those games.”