Cubs reclaim first in NL Central
With the hockey playoffs getting under way, Cubs manager Joe Maddon almost got into the spirit of things Wednesday night after a 5-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field.
Maddon started awarding stars of the game before stopping himself.
"Star of the game, Woody," he said, referring to starting pitcher Travis Wood. "Second star goes to … I don't want to start … but Starlin did really well."
That would be Starlin, as in shortstop Starlin Castro, who went 2-for-3 with a double and a walk at the plate and who also made some nice defensive plays, including a diving snag to start a double play in the eighth inning.
They also have a third star of the game in hockey, so to finish the thought, we'll go with first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who got the Cubs going with a 2-run homer in the first inning against former Cubs pitcher Jason Marquis.
Those efforts, plus a few others, enabled the Cubs to take two of three in this series and reclaim first place in the National League Central with a 5-3 record.
Rizzo, who has been around for a lot of losing the last couple of years, senses something different about this group in the early going.
"No doubt," he said after hitting his first homer of the season. "We sensed it during spring training. Just a great group of guys. It's very relaxed and very hungry at the same time."
Wood (1-1) flashed the form that made him an all-star in 2013. He worked 7-plus innings and gave up only 3 hits.
"I thought Woody pitched a great game today," Maddon said. "I don't know if you guys can see it from upstairs, but he had great carry on his fastball. And he pitched with his fastball, primarily, during the course of this game. He mixed in his cutter-slider and a couple of curves, but he primarily pitched with his fastball. He was getting on it really good."
Wood agreed.
"It was good one tonight," he said. "I was able to keep them off-balance and get some early out and pound the zone and go deep in the ballgame."
The only downer for the Cubs came in the ninth inning when hard-throwing reliever Neil Ramirez left the game after feeling "right-shoulder discomfort" when he threw a pitch to Joey Votto to make the count 3-0. Brian Schlitter came in to replace Ramirez and finished the game.
It's likely Ramirez will undergo an MRI Thursday, with the Cubs knowing more Friday. Already, they have reliever Justin Grimm on the disabled list with forearm inflammation.
"They haven't had a chance to analyze it in detail, so we're just going to say right-shoulder discomfort right now," Maddon said. "Obviously, a 90-mile-an-hour fastball was well below his thing, so something obviously was not well with him."