A slam rights Maddon’s wrong
Of all the people at Wrigley Field calling Miguel Montero out for a curtain call after his pinch-hit grand slam Saturday night in the Cubs’ 8-4 victory over the Dodgers, the loudest should have been his manager, Joe Maddon.
Montero’s 402-foot home run into right field off Dodgers reliever Joe Blanton did more than just give the Cubs a 1-0 lead in the National League Championship Series; it bailed out Maddon for a rare move that backfired. The biggie from “Miggy” saved the Cubs from losing a game that, until Maddon prematurely pulled starter Jon Lester after six innings, looked like an easy win. And it spared Chicago from spilling angst into the city streets that started to build as soon as Maddon pinch-hit for Lester with the toughest nine outs to go.
As Lester walked slowly from the on-deck circle back to the dugout in the sixth inning, his deliberate body language screamed exactly what everyone was thinking.
What are you thinking, Joe Maddon?
The Cubs led 3-1 at the time, but Maddon decided to send in Jorge Soler to hit for Lester, ending the night for the Cubs ace, who deserved a chance to go deeper. Who deserved at least a chance to start the seventh inning. Instead, Maddon pulled Lester after only 77 pitches, six innings, four hits and one run — a wind-aided home run in the left-field basket by Joc Pederson.
Lester wasn’t as sharp as usual, but he didn’t appear to be laboring either.
If you think it was hard to see the Cubs unravel two innings later when the Dodgers tied the score, imagine how Lester must have felt watching helplessly.
Maddon has earned the benefit of the doubt based on the percentage of his hunches that pay off, but this one looked bad the second he called on Soler. This one appeared to be a guy who preaches doing simple better inexplicably complicating everything.
This one smacked of overmanaging.
The seventh inning went smoothly as three Cubs pitchers kept the Dodgers from scoring, but Maddon’s move backfired in another unforgettable eighth inning. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Maddon called on closer Aroldis Chapman. The last time Maddon inserted Chapman attempting a six-out save — in Game 3 of the Division Series against the Giants — it didn’t go well and neither did this experience. After two straight strikeouts that looked familiar, Chapman gave up a two-run, gametying single to Adrian Gonzalez that stunned the crowd.
A Dodgers team that had hung around now had been rejuvenated, allowed back in the game by a managerial move by the opponent. A move by Maddon’s counterpart, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, set up Montero’s heroics.
Roberts wanted to force Maddon to pinch-hit for Chapman so, with the pitcher due up next, the Dodgers walked Chris Coghlan to load the bases with the score tied at 3. Essentially, Roberts chose to face Montero rather than Coghlan and probably regretted that decision. Montero left no doubt, ripping Blanton’s pitch into the seats and assuring everybody that his back was just fine. He had just carried the Cubs to victory, after all.
“I was just thinking of getting a base hit,’’ Montero told ESPN Radio. “I was looking for a good pitch to hit and I hit it pretty well.’’
Indeed, Montero hit it well enough to make the Dodgers wonder if they will get another shot this good to beat the Cubs. The Dodgers aren’t the Giants. Game 2 starter Clayton Kershaw cannot pitch every game no more than Madison Bumgarner could in the NLDS – and the Dodgers really don’t have the equivalent of Johnny Cueto.
As for the Cubs, despite needing a pinch-hit grand slam to survive, they proved more than anything that defense wins championships in baseball too. The grass stains covering the front of Dexter Fowler’s jersey suggested how busy he was saving runs with diving catches. Anthony Rizzo got into the act too with a diving stop of Yasiel Puig’s grounder.
The Dodgers helped the Cubs’ cause with some poor judgment in the second inning. Pitcher Kenta Maeda stroked an unlikely single, and third-base coach Chris Woodward waved home Gonzalez rounding third. Slower than L.A. traffic, Gonzalez was thrown out by three steps.
It started to look as if the Dodgers wouldn’t let the Cubs make a mistake. Javy Baez got caught cheating too far down the third-base line after a failed Lester bunt try, but catcher Carlos Ruiz’s pickoff attempt caused third baseman Justin Turner to lunge and Baez beat the throw home. Not since 1907 has a Cubs player stolen home in a playoff game. Perhaps not since 1908 has a Cubs team looked this worthy of a championship.
Regarding all that history, Maddon made everyone realize why his allergy to anxiety gives him the ideal temperament to lead the Cubs through this morass of distractions.
“Today is what, Oct. 15?” Maddon answered pregame when asked about the Cubs’ historical burden.
“I really want to believe our guys are going to treat it like July 15 or Aug. 15. I know I am…. When you start looking at it from the wrong perspective, it could interfere with what you’re trying to do.”
Maddon keeps saying the right things. Cubs fans will be reassured Sunday if he resumes doing them too.