Even in lopsided loss, Cubs have some fun
MILWAUKEE - Leave it to a Joe Maddon-managed team to be laughing after a 12-4 laugher went against them.
Actually, there were a couple of things to smile about despite Saturday night's blowout loss to the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park.
The first, and most important, was rookie third baseman Kris Bryant's first major-league home run. Bryant came up from Class AAA Iowa on April 17, and he had gone without hitting a longball until Saturday night's third inning, when he connected on a high, towering drive to left-center with two men on against Brewers starting pitcher Kyle Lohse.
"Just get the first one out of the way," said the 23-year-old Bryant, who hit 43 home runs in the minor leagues last year and who had 3 at Class AAA Iowa this year before coming up. "It had kind of been awhile. But I did it. It's a cool feeling. We had fun with it. It would be nice to get a win out of it, but it will still be a day I'll be able to remember."
The Cubs squad disappeared into the adjacent clubhouse after Bryant hit the home run, so no one was in the dugout to greet him. That kind of practical joking often happens when a rookie hits his first homer. Bryant knew what was going on, so he headed right to the locker room, where his teammates and coaching staff greeted him warmly.
Maddon also had his players smiling at the end of the game when he used catcher David Ross to pitch the bottom of the eighth inning. Ross faced three batters and got three outs.
"There was some levity with the home run by Bryant, which I enjoyed," said Maddon, whose team fell to 15-14. "And at the end of the game, listen, man, it's a baseball game. I want to keep them in the right frame of mind. We got beat up tonight. It happens."
Maddon credited, or blamed, first baseman Anthony Rizzo for getting the team out of the dugout to tease Bryant.
"Rizzo initiated it: 'Let's get out of the dugout, get out of the dugout,' " Maddon said. "I had to follow orders at that point. The funny part was KB came after us to be congratulated. He found us to be congratulated. So I thought that was pretty funny."
There was both a serious side and a funny side to using Ross to pitch. The beleaguered bullpen got no favors from starter Travis Wood (2-2, 4.96 ERA), who had his second straight rough outing, lasting 4 innings. On top of that, reliever Edwin Jackson faced three batters in the fifth and got nobody out.
Phil Coke, Jason Motte and James Russell preceded Ross into the game, but Maddon said it was important not to use Justin Grimm or Zac Rosscup, with a day game coming right up.
Ross was ready, willing and, as it turned out, able.
"I was definitely nervous," he said. "Sometimes when you have a game like that, it's nice to have a lighthearted inning and get an old man like me out there pitching."
The Cubs do face some serious questions with their pitching, both in the rotation and in the pen.
"That's an ongoing conversation," Maddon said of any possible changes to roles or roster. "I think every team, every GM, every manager with the coaching staff, within the group, you're always evaluating. I just had that meeting the other day with all the coaching staff to talk about all of our players.
"It's a bimonthly thing, and it's very productive, I think. That conversation exists all the time. Through what appears to be good moments and the bad moments, you're always looking to see if there is something we can do a bit better."
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