Cubs finish 6-1 homestand with a loss
The Cubs looked like a team in need of a day off Sunday.
Fortunately for them, one is coming Monday, and they get to spend it in San Diego.
There was nothing wrong with the way the Cubs played on their homestand, which ended Sunday with a 3-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Cubs finished the Wrigley Field stand 6-1, and they take a 21-16 record into Tuesday night's series opener against the Padres.
No doubt the players are looking forward to a breather. Manager Joe Maddon said he was more than pleased with his young ballclub, which was stymied Sunday by Pirates starting pitcher A.J. Burnett.
"We played really well," Maddon said. "Sometimes be careful what you wish for. But the off-day is really pertinent right now based on the pitching, more than anything. However, we got into a nice little groove by playing well, and I like that. Among the group right now there is kind of a rhythm about the day, and they feel pretty good about it. That's good stuff."
The Cubs are going to do some tweaking of the roster this week, and those tweaks are much needed. They'll activate left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada off the disabled list to pitch Wednesday. Wada has been rehabbing at Class AAA Iowa. Also, look for outfielder Junior Lake to come up from Iowa for the San Diego series.
The Cubs played Sunday's game with a 14-man pitching staff for the second day in a row because of carryover from heavy usage Thursday and Friday.
That meant they had only a three-man bench, two of whom were catchers: Welington Castillo and David Ross. Maddon ended up using all of his bench players as Jonathan Herrera replaced third baseman Kris Bryant in the fifth inning after Bryant left the game with an illness, perhaps dehydration.
If an outfielder had gotten hurt, Maddon would have had to use pitcher Travis Wood in the outfield.
"You have to be patient," said Maddon, who used Ross as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning and Castillo as a pinch hitter in the ninth. "You have to make the most of those matchups. We were only going to hit primarily for the pitcher ... It didn't work out badly today. We were actually OK."
Starting pitcher Jake Arrieta was OK, too. He worked 7 innings of 5-hit, 1-run ball before Zac Rosscup allowed 2 runs in the eighth. The Cubs had two runners aboard in both the eighth and ninth innings but could not score against the Pittsburgh pen.
"Great homestand," Arrieta said. "Obviously against the Mets (a four-game sweep), we came out and fought hard the entire series, pitched well and scored enough runs to win some ballgames. I think we even finished the series pretty good against these guys.
"At the end of the day, as a team, we're excited about the way things are going regardless of today's loss."
After 17 straight days of baseball, the players may like the momentum, the idea of an off-day sounds pretty good, too.
"I'm definitely looking forward to tomorrow off to relax in San Diego," said first baseman Anthony Rizzo. "But the energy in here is its highest it's ever been."
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