Blame the bullpen
Schwarber’s game-ending strikeout, fan’s faux pas can’t distract from real culprit — 7 walks by relievers
The Cubs’ 6-5 loss to the Angels on Saturday had nothing to do with a second-inning foul ball that wound up in a fan’s glove instead of the glove of either
David Bote or Javier Baez.
And it can’t be pinned on third-base umpire Gabe Morales, who ruled Kyle Schwarber did not check his swing on a pitch in the dirt that resulted in a gameending strikeout with the tying and winning runs in scoring position.
The real culprit was the Cubs bullpen, which issued seven walks in the final four innings and forced the offense to stage a late rally that fell short.
“Loved the fight,” manager Joe Maddon said. “I thought we came back. We just walked too many guys.”
The Angels’ three-run second inning off Kyle Hendricks (0-3) was a turning point, and it all started with a foul ball. Brian Goodwin’s popup landed in a fan’s mitt with Baez and Bote in pursuit — though neither appeared to be in position to make the catch. After realizing he could have cost the Cubs an out, the fan, Andy Bargren, told Bote and Baez he was sorry.
Wrigley Field tradition dictates whenever a Cubs fan goes for a foul ball down the left-field line, the word “Bartman” is thrown around like a curse word. But Baez said it wasn’t Bargren’s fault.
“He didn’t reach for the ball or anything,” Baez said. “I was just telling Bote that the wall was there. There are going to be situations we go for the ball, but it’s too early to go for a ball like that and maybe get hurt. … All the fans booed him, but he didn’t go for the ball, and he made a good catch.”
Bargren, a 43-year-old dentist from St. Joseph, Mich., was at his first game in his new season tickets with his wife, Luz, and two young sons, Hugo and Gus. A sign on the brick wall in front of his seat reads: “BE ALERT for foul balls, bats and other objects from the field of play.” When they arrived at their seats, an usher told Bargren to “keep an eye on the boys” for foul balls down the line.
“So I got my mitt out,” he said. “And ball in the area I’m going after. A foul ball comes right to me. Caught it. Felt great. And I had absolutely no idea (Baez and Bote were closing in). I looked up at the crowd, and the crowd had a white-ghost look. I looked at my wife and she shook her head. I knew exactly what I had done.
“I flipped the ball back to some people in crowd to at least try and cancel the foul mood.”
Bargren admitted the first thing that came to his mind after realizing his situation was the episode involving Steve Bartman and a foul ball in Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series. “He’s very sorry,” Luz Bargren said. “I underline that,” Andy said. “I’m sorry. I lowered my head and apologized to (David) Bote and (Javier) Baez. And a sincere apology to Kyle Hendricks, who deserves the (biggest) apology on that one.”
Still, if you’re a student of Cubs history you knew what would happen next.
Goodwin promptly singled to put two on, and David Fletcher followed with an RBI single. After a catcher’s interference call on Willson Contreras, the Angels added two more on Zack Cozart’s run-scoring single and pitcher Chris Stratton’s doubleplay grounder.
The Bartman comparisons began popping up on Twitter, and naturally Bargren received several text messages.
“I replied, ‘I’m just crawling into a hole at this point,’ ” he said. “I’m hoping to get out of the stadium today.”
The Cubs trailed 6-2 in the eighth but nearly staged a classic comeback. Mark Zagunis’ pinch-hit, two-run single in the eighth pulled them within two, and after a walk and Baez double in the ninth, Goodwin dropped a Jason Heyward fly in left to bring in another run and put the tying and winning runs in scoring position.
But Angels closer Cody Allen struck out Contreras on three pitches, and Schwarber struck out on the attempted check swing to end it. Schwarber, who was ejected, angrily made a beeline toward Morales after the call and was held back by Baez.
After looking at the at-bat on video, Schwarber said he hadn’t changed his mind.
“If you’re not 100 percent sure you can’t call it,” he said. “Obviously I was frustrated. Who’s not going to be frustrated after ending a game like that? You’re that close to sniffing out a run. … I just didn’t think it was a good call.”
The Cubs dropped to 5-9 heading into Sunday’s series finale — which could be threatened by rain and snow — and it was no one’s fault but their own.
“We’ve been struggling,” Baez said. “No excuses. We’ve been playing good. Today didn’t go our way, but we had a good fight.”