Cubs win, irate Maddon tossed in 9th
If this wasn’t a pennant race heating up Wednesday, it was at least enough heat to get Joe Maddon’s blood boiling — hotter than first baseman Anthony Rizzo said he’d ever seen Maddon.
The situation took place in the bottom of the ninth after the Cubs had blown a five- run lead against the Reds but had put the first two men on in a tie game.
That’s when Ben Zobrist was hit in the left shin by a pitch trying to bunt. But after taking his base, he was sent back by firstbase umpire Chris Conroy, who inexplicably ruled that Zobrist had offered at the ball as he tried to twist out of the way.
That’s when Maddon stormed from the dugout and argued so vehemently and explicitly that it took only a few seconds for him to be ejected. He’s awaiting his fine but afterward called for Major League Baseball to look at how some umpiring decisions are being made in this age of replay challenges.
“We’ve had different things happen [ with adverse calls recently], and I’ve been playing really good in the sandbox, really good,” Maddon said. “But that call cannot be made under those circumstances.
“There’s no way any hitter under those circumstances, with the ball coming at his thigh, is going to bunt through it and then get hit in the thigh. That’s asinine. That almost cost us the game. … All this minutiae need to be looked at as we move this thing along because that impacted the game. That’s bases loaded, nobody out. The world rotates differently at that point.”
The Cubs won this time. Zobrist eventually tapped to the pitcher, moving the runners to second and third, and after a strikeout, a wild pitch sent the winning run home in a 7- 6 victory.
On Saturday in Arizona, Zobrist was at the center of a game- ending third strike that was bad enough the umpire told Maddon the next morning he missed the call. Had Zobrist reached, the Cubs would have brought the potential tying run to the plate.
“It’s unfortunate,” Zobrist said. “What are you going to do? … I certainly wasn’t trying to bunt.”
Lackey return?
Though he didn’t get the win because of the late- inning bullpen leak, John Lackey pitched another strong six innings, retiring 13 of the last 14 he faced, allowing only one run and lowering his ERA since the All- Star break to 3.06.
The Cubs won for the seventh consecutive Lackey start, and Maddon said the 38- year- old veteran’s stuff looks as good as it has in two years.
“Knowing Lackey, how competitive he is, if he finishes strong, I could see him considering coming back,” said Maddon, who has known him since he was an Angels bench coach when Lackey broke into the majors.
Said Lackey, who’s in the final year of a two- year, $ 32 million deal: “I’m just playing baseball, taking it one start at a time. We’ll see what happens. That’ll be a family decision at the end of the year.”
At least as unexpected as Lackey’s season turnaround since the break was the first career stolen base he nabbed in the fourth when pitcher Homer Bailey ignored him.
“It was cute until he got picked off second,” Maddon said.
Uehara update
Reliever Koji Uehara ( neck) threw a bullpen session and is scheduled to throw another one Saturday, after which the club might schedule his return from the disabled list.
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