Cubs hitters pick horrible time to slump
Whenever a Dodgers pitcher struck out a Cubs hitter in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, Dodger Stadium was filled with a dropin sound bite of the fournote opening motif of Beethoven’s Fifth.
By the end of the night, the classical composition was little more than an earworm to the Cubs, who continued their postseason hitting slump in a 4-1 loss to the Dodgers.
They managed only three hits in five innings off Rich Hill and none in the final four innings against the Dodgers bullpen, which has now thrown eight no-hit innings in the first two games of the series.
“They’re just good,” Anthony Rizzo said. “They’ve got good pitchers, good hitters. They’re just getting us out.”
The Cubs have been in this situation before, as recently as last year’s World Series, when they trailed the Cleveland Indians 3-1 before winning in seven games.
But this roadblock seems a little bigger, with Yu Darvish pitching Game 3 at Wrigley Field on Tuesday and Clayton Kershaw lurking in Game 5, if it gets that far.
Despite the offensive no-show, the story of the night was Joe Maddon’s decision to go with John Lackey in relief in the ninth inning instead of his closer Wade Davis.
Lackey, who pitched two straight days after not being used in the NL division series against the Washington Nationals, served up a three-run, walk-off home run to Justin Turner that turned Dodger Stadium upside-down.
“You want to be in those games,” Lackey said. “Typically I’m not usually in ’em, but try to get the job done.”
Lackey didn’t get the job done, and said afterward it was “nobody’s fault but mine.”
“I feel bad for our guys,” Jon Lester said. “You never want to be that guy that’s left out there. I’m sure it’s a bad feeling. I’m fortunate enough I haven’t been that guy, but he’s a competitor and hopefully we get that opportunity again.”
When someone called it a “heartbreaker,” Lester shot back: “A heartbreaker for who? It’s a loss. We’re not over. We’re not done.
“Guys walked in here upbeat and ready to go for [Game 3]. We had some music playing in here before [the media arrived].
“We’ve all lost games before. We’ve all lost series before, so we’ll move on to Tuesday. That’s all we can do, show up and be ready to go.”
Davis, who had his longest outing of the season in Game 5 of the NLDS, a 21⁄3-inning performance, was out of sight.
Maddon said he planned on using Davis only in a save situation.
Davis said he was ready to go an inning if asked.
“Everything is pretty taxing in the playoffs,” he said. “You take the ball when your manager asks you to take the ball.”
Asked if he was disappointed not to get the ball, Davis replied:
“No, we’ve got confidence in everybody that goes out there. There’s not disappoint in any of that.
“Lackey’s track record in the playoffs has been amazing,” Davis added. “I don’t think that’s something that [deserves] second-guessing.”
Davis said he knew it would only be a “one-inning type of stint,” but didn’t engage in the question of when he would be used.
Lester and Hill engaged in a pitching duel for the first five innings, if it’s at all possible to have a duel that only goes five.
It shows where postseason baseball is these days, where starters with ninefigure salaries come out of games early and semianonymous relievers decide who wins.
Lester battled without his best stuff, allowing one run on three hits and five walks over 4 innings, throwing 103 pitches. He was lifted by Maddon with two outs in the fifth after Turner’s game-tying single and a walk to Cody Bellinger.
“I didn’t really have much, so I tried to figure it out as I went,” he said. “It was a grind from pitch one, and we were able to get semi-deep into the game. But at the end of the day, you look up on a ground ball [by Turner] that just gets through and it’s tied 1-1. It wasn’t great, but it’s only one.”
Lester was aided by Albert Almora’s leaping catch in deep center in the first, and Willson Contreras throwing out Yasiel Puig attempting to steal second in the third.
He noted Hill was “cruising,” and only pitched five innings, leaving after 79 pitches.
“The game has definitely changed,” Lester said. “I would’ve thought Rich would have a couple more innings there, but the game has definitely changed on that aspect of it.”
But Dodgers manager Dave Roberts knows he has a fresh bullpen after their three-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS.
Maddon has to manage his bullpen like he’s juggling flaming chainsaws, with Davis and Brian Duensing the only ones who have been consistent since September.
At least Carl Edwards Jr., Pedro Strop and Duensing all stepped up in Game 2, albeit in a losing effort.