UN-BEAR-ABLE STRETCH
Misery at plate has Cubs in tight spot
CHICAGO — The bats belonging to the Cubs’ most accomplished hitters have turned to mush this October, leaving the defending World Series champions in a difficult spot.
Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo were quiet against the Nationals in the NLDS and invisible in the first two games of the NLCS against the Dodgers. Maybe a return to Wrigley Field will help, but unless the tandem gets jump-started there is a good chance the Cubs, trailing 0-2 in this best-of-seven series, won’t be boarding a plane for a return to Los Angeles later this week.
“We need to hit a couple balls hard consecutively, I think that’s what it comes down to,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said Monday. “Once we’re able to do that, we’ll gain our offensive mojo back. That’s all that’s going on.”
Bryant, the National League’s reigning MVP, enters Tuesday’s Game 3 of the NLCS in a 5-for-28 (.179) slump with no homers this postseason. Rizzo, the All-Star first baseman, is 4-for-29 (.138) with one homer. Another proven member of the Cubs lineup, Javier Baez, is 0-for-19 this postseason.
It’s a situation not all that different from last October, when the Cubs didn’t hit early in the NLCS against the Dodgers, but got rolling once the series shifted to Los Angeles. This time they will hope the change of scenery, with the Friendly Confines as a backdrop, will spur the revival.
Yu Darvish, acquired at the trade deadline from the Rangers, will start for the Dodgers against the Cubs’ postseason pitching hero last year, Kyle Hendricks.
“We’ve done everything we can to put ourselves in a good position, but there is a long way to go,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “And this team, the Cubs are not going to quit fighting and competing. It’s definitely noted how resilient that club is over there. They are going to do everything they can to win a game and we’re going to do the same.”
The Dodgers held a workout Monday in Los Angeles before traveling to Chicago later in the day. Maddon, meanwhile, gave the Cubs a needed day of rest after a hellacious stretch that included a 12-hour journey to Los Angeles following the Cubs’ victory in Game 5 of the NLDS at Washington. The trip was prolonged because the team charter stopped in Albuquerque, N.M., so Jose Quintana’s wife could seek medical attention.
After losing the NLCS opener, the Cubs watched Justin Turner hit a walk-off three-run homer against John Lackey a night later.
“We wanted to win one of those two, but we’re coming back and we won’t be fazed in the sense that, ‘Oh, my God, this is a dire situation, we can’t do this kind of thing,’ ” said Maddon, whose Cubs rallied from a 3-1 deficit against the Indians to win last year’s World Series. “We’ll be fine. We’ve had some tough losses before that we were able to bounce back from, and that’s what I’m talking about.”
To get his hitters going, Maddon said the message will be plate discipline (accepting walks) and sticking to strengths (using all fields to hit). The Cubs’ biggest troubles have come against a Dodgers bullpen that pitched eight scoreless innings combined in the first two games of the series.
Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill were each removed after five innings in their respective starts, but Roberts has masterfully manipulated a bullpen that includes maybe the game’s best closer in Kenley Jansen.