CUBS KEEP THEIR COOL
ON A SCORCHING DAY FILLED WITH FIELDING ERRORS, PADRES ARE THE ONES TO FINALLY WILT
Heat and sloppy play couldn’t beat the Cubs on Friday — never mind the Padres.
It was a blistering 92 degrees at Wrigley Field at first pitch, and the temperature and humidity only intensified.
“It was miserable,” starting pitcher Jon Lester said after the Cubs’ 6-5 win.
As a result, both teams made their fair share of silly mistakes on defense. And All-Star shortstop Javy Baez had an especially off day in the field. In addition to uncharacteristically hesitating twice while throwing to first base, he committed an error in the eighth, overthrowing reliever Pedro Stop after making a routine catch.
Martin Maldonado also had some miscommunications with Lester, whom he was catching for the first time.
None of the Cubs’ mistakes cost them a run. The same can’t be said about the Padres’ mistakes, which cost them the game. They made two errors in the eighth, including a missed catch by first baseman Eric Hosmer, which resulted in Cubs second baseman Addison Russell scoring the winning run.
Lester said the heat is more physically than mentally taxing. But manager Joe Maddon believes the scorching temperature was a factor in some of the Cubs’ blunders.
“With the defense today, I’m just not really going to overevaluate anything,” Maddon said. “We made a lot of mistakes, obviously. It was a very sloppy game from both sides — I can’t defend that. It was extraordinarily hot, and that can impact concentration, but nobody there is going to make an excuse. I’m just telling you what I saw today.”
First baseman Anthony Rizzo, who also called the game sloppy, said these are the kinds of games the Cubs have to win more often.
“When we play sloppy games, we usually lose them, so to win games like that is nice,” he said. “But sloppy plays need to be addressed, and we will, and we just have to continue to play.”
Perhaps the only one who didn’t mind the excessive heat was Rizzo, who’s from South Florida. He hit his fourth career grand slam — his first homer since June 15 — in the third to give the Cubs a one-run lead.
“I knew I hadn’t hit one in awhile,” said Rizzo, who went 2-for-3 with four RBI and a walk. “But it’s happened to me before in my career, so you just stay course with the process and take what they give you.”
Reliever Craig Kimbrel seemingly couldn’t get back to the air conditioning soon enough. He struck out the side in the ninth and recorded his fifth save with the Cubs since his debut on June 27.
“That’s what we expect from him,” said Lester, who allowed 12 hits — matching his career high — and four runs. “I don’t think anyone was worried about him when he first showed up. His track record speaks for itself. So it’s a matter of getting his feet wet, getting him out there and comfortable, and it looks like he’s feeling comfortable.”
The Cubs are 6-1 since the All-Star break and have won eight of their last 10 games.
“Pretty happy about it,” Maddon said of the recent surge. “Today was a tough overall game. I’m saying there’s another level of us I want to see.”